Vice President William Lai (賴清德) has picked Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) to be his running mate for January’s election, with an official announcement to be made on Monday, sources with direct knowledge said.
Hsiao, 52, who has been Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US since 2020, has been considered by party officials, diplomats and Taiwanese media for months to be the most likely running mate for Lai.
Now the decision has been made, a formal announcement is to come on Monday once Hsiao returns to Taiwan from the APEC summit in San Francisco, four sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.
Photo: Reuters
Well known in Washington, Hsiao could act as a key liaison for Taipei and Washington, one of the sources said.
“It’s a crucial role and she has the needed international experience,” the source said on condition of anonymity.
Vincent Chao (趙怡翔), spokesperson for the Lai campaign, yesterday declined to comment on Hsiao’s role, but said an announcement on a running mate would be made on Monday.
“This candidate will reinforce our commitment to the people of Taiwan and the international community that democracy, peace and prosperity will continue to be our guiding values,” he said.
Ivan Kanapathy, who regularly met with Hsiao when he was deputy senior director for Asia at the US National Security Council, said that Hsiao is a “tireless advocate” for Taiwan.
“If Ambassador Hsiao becomes vice president, her knowledge, experience and relationships would be invaluable for national security and foreign policy in the next Taiwanese administration,” said Kanapathy, an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Hsiao has been “very engaged on Taiwan’s defense reform efforts, which are drawing on lessons from Ukraine,” he said, pointing to examples such as initiatives for Taiwan to acquire more munitions, including Patriot missiles and drones.
Lai has during the past week talked up Hsiao in interviews with local media, without directly confirming he had picked her, calling her “very principled” and “thorough.”
Hsiao was born in Japan to a Taiwanese father and American mother, and initially worked in the office of then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and then as a Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday referred to Lai and Hsiao as an “independence double act” and that Taiwanese are “very clear” about what both of them teaming up means for the “situation in the Taiwan Strait.”
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
RSS