Vice President William Lai (賴清德), the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, yesterday named former representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) as his running mate in January’s election.
The announcement was not a surprise, as Hsiao had long been speculated to be Lai’s top choice for the job.
Calling herself a “cat warrior” — a play on the assertive “wolf warrior diplomacy” style of Chinese officials — Hsiao, 52, yesterday told a news conference that she was ready to “fully commit” herself to the presidential campaign.
Photo: CNA
Hsiao, born to a Taiwanese father and an American mother, said she shared values with Lai including defending Taiwan’s freedom and democracy.
“I believe we have lots of common convictions — we are both willing to take on responsibility for Taiwan,” she said.
Lai said he chose Hsiao because of her “top-notch performance” as Taiwan’s top representative to the US since 2020.
“Bi-khim’s homecoming is meant to safeguard Taiwan,” Lai said.
During her three-year-tenure, Hsiao made Taiwan-US ties the “best ever in history,” he said.
He also praised Hsiao for “her willingness to make sacrifices whenever the DPP needed her most” — including by running as a lawmaker and spending 10 years in Hualien County, a traditional stronghold of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) — and for remaining humble.
He said he asked Hsiao to be his running mate during his stopover in the US on his way to visit then-diplomatic ally Honduras in January last year, long before he officially won his party’s nomination in April.
Hsiao said she thought Lai was joking last year, but the role has since taken on added importance given the changing international landscape.
“I will take advantage of all the experience [I have] accumulated in my previous posts and do even more for Taiwan, and for Taiwan’s people,” she said.
Lai added that the pair were “completely prepared to withstand all challenges, both domestically and from China.”
“[We] will lead the country steadily and firmly follow the right path. Please give us a chance,” he said.
Adding Hsiao to the ticket represents the party’s efforts to “resist China,” said Chang Chun-hao (張峻豪), a political scientist at Tunghai University.
They “can create a powerful effect in anti-China and pro-US issues,” he said. “Hsiao not only represents Taiwanese ideology, but she also has a pro-US role.”
Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the US-Taiwan Business Council, who has known Hsiao since the 1990s, said she was a “formidable politician,” and would add much-needed diplomatic and security heft to Lai’s ticket.
Lai and Hsiao are expected to register their candidacy at the Central Election Commission today. The deadline is Friday.
As of yesterday, the KMT remained in a stalemate with the smaller Taiwan People’s Party about which of their candidates should run as president and vice president after initially agreeing to form an alliance.
Lai, writing on Facebook earlier yesterday, pointed to the “turmoil” in the opposition camp.
“In contrast, the team I lead is definitely a fully prepared and tested one,” he said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
‘A SERIOUS THREAT’: Japan has expressed grave concern over the Strait’s security over the years, which demonstrated Tokyo’s firm support for peace in the area, an official said China’s military drills around Taiwan are “incompatible” with peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya said during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi (王毅) on Thursday. “Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for the international community, including Japan,” Iwaya told Wang during a meeting on the sidelines of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in Kuala Lumpur. “China’s large-scale military drills around Taiwan are incompatible with this,” a statement released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday cited Iwaya as saying. The Foreign Ministers’ Meetings are a series of diplomatic
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
‘REALISTIC’ APPROACH: The ministry said all the exercises were scenario-based and unscripted to better prepare personnel for real threats and unexpected developments The army’s 21st Artillery Command conducted a short-range air defense drill in Taoyuan yesterday as part of the Han Kuang exercises, using the indigenous Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile system for the first time in the exercises. The armed forces have been conducting a series of live-fire and defense drills across multiple regions, simulating responses to a full-scale assault by Chinese forces, the Ministry of National Defense said. The Sky Sword II missile system was rapidly deployed and combat-ready within 15 minutes to defend Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a simulated attack, the ministry said. A three-person crew completed setup and