President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has been included in this year’s Financial Times list of most influential women, published on Thursday, which also featured Hong Kong democracy advocate Agnes Chow (周庭) and US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
The annual Women of the Year feature was expanded to 25 honorees this year, and was compiled in collaboration with reporters from dozens of the newspaper’s international bureaus, former women of the year and readers, the British publication said.
The entry on Tsai was written by Carrie Gracie, a former BBC China editor and author.
Photo: Bloomberg
Gracie praised Tsai for her resilience, saying that this year she navigated the “dangers of the country’s position on the geopolitical faultline between authoritarianism and democracy.”
Unlike many of the world’s political and business leaders “who self-censor at the first hint of displeasure from Beijing, Tsai does not buckle in the face of intimidation. Nor does she antagonize,” Gracie said.
Tsai has articulated and demonstrated through her leadership style how Taiwan’s values differ from those of China, she said.
“Her leadership offers a lesson for all of us: how to respect Chinese interests without selling out our own,” she said.
The Financial Times also included WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on the list.
Others on the list include US Federal Trade Commission chairperson Lina Khan, General Motors CEO Mary Barra and IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath.
Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) yesterday cited Tsai as saying the nomination was not about her, but instead recognition for Taiwan.
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