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.”
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS