The head of the policy division of Republican US presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign is Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), 34, the son of Taiwanese immigrants.
Chen, whose parents are from Yunlin County, is one of the few Asians in prominent positions in the Republican presidential campaign.
A politician with a strong academic background, Chen holds four Harvard degrees — one bachelor’s, one master’s and two doctorates, one in law and one in politics. He worked at a lobbying firm after obtaining his first degree in 1999.
Photo: CNA
He then worked as a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, where he studied healthcare and economic policies.
He joined the Republican Party in 2007, the same year that Romney threw his hat into the ring for the party’s nomination for the 2008 presidential election.
Chen served as a senior aide in the Health and Human Services department during the administration of former US president George W. Bush.
In 2008, Chen was named chief domestic policy adviser for Romney’s nomination campaign and joined the current presidential campaign in March last year.
In a profile of Chen in the Washington Post, freelance writer Molly Redden described him as “brilliant.”
Former US secretary of labor Elaine Chao (趙小蘭), who was born in Taiwan, said Chen was a rising star in the Republican Party.
It is rare that people of Asian descent are placed in such high positions in any US presidential campaign, she said.
Chen’s current post as policy director in the Romney campaign signifies that Republicans value ethnic diversity and shows the growing importance of politicians from Asian backgrounds in the party, she said.
Speaking of his Taiwanese roots, Chen, on the sideline of a campaign rally mainly for Asian voters in Tampa, Florida, earlier this week, said that he had enjoyed every trip he ever made to Taiwan.
Taiwan has changed a lot in the past decade, which is really exciting, said Chen, whose parents now live in San Gabriel Valley, California.
Taiwan is an extraordinary place that has a vibrant democracy, he said.
On the observation that many view his China policy as “hawkish,” Chen said China was an important trading partner of the US.
Romney does not intend to start a trade war with China, but neither will the US succumb to China, he said, adding that Romney believes that China should not manipulate its currency, put up trade barriers or infringe on intellectual property rights.
Unless China moves toward such changes, Romney will remain committed to holding China accountable, Chen said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to