Outgoing Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Monday bid farewell to her colleagues in Washington after last week resigning to become Vice President William Lai’s (賴清德) running mate in January’s presidential election.
Hsiao wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that it has been “an honor to represent Taiwan in the US.”
“As I embark on another challenging path, I am truly grateful to all who have worked with me to strengthen the Taiwan US partnership over the last three years,” she wrote.
Photo: Hua Meng-ching, Taipei Times
She said she was “blessed to have an incredibly diligent and dedicated team” at Taiwan’s representative office in the US.
“Taiwanese diplomats can never take support for granted. We know we must earn it and work for it,” she said, adding that she would miss “the cherry blossoms and colorful foliage of DC” as well as “the warmth of bipartisan friends who have committed to stand with Taiwan.”
After participating in presidential campaign activities in Taiwan for much of last week, Hsiao flew back to the US and arrived in Washington on Sunday to take care of handover procedures.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US posted a photograph on Facebook of Hsiao with her colleagues in Washington, and said she turned over her responsibilities to deputy representatives to the US Robin Cheng (鄭榮俊) and Johnson Chiang (姜森).
Hsiao was yesterday to return to Taiwan via New York.
Hsiao was in Taiwan last week to be officially announced as Lai’s running mate on the Democratic Progressive Party’s ticket for the Jan. 13 presidential election.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Hsiao officially tendered her resignation as representative to the US, a post she had held since July 2020, to President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) on Monday last week.
Tsai has approved Hsiao’s resignation, which takes effect tomorrow, the Presidential Office said.
In the interim, Hsiao would be on paid leave, while Cheng serves as acting representative to the US, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said.
The Presidential Office and the ministry are still in the process of appointing Hsiao’s successor, Liu said, giving no timeline for when that person would be announced.
The Taipei City Government yesterday said contractors organizing its New Year’s Eve celebrations would be held responsible after a jumbo screen played a Beijing-ran television channel near the event’s end. An image showing China Central Television (CCTV) Channel 3 being displayed was posted on the social media platform Threads, sparking an outcry on the Internet over Beijing’s alleged political infiltration of the municipal government. A Taipei Department of Information and Tourism spokesman said event workers had made a “grave mistake” and that the Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS) group had the contract to operate the screens. The city would apply contractual penalties on TVBS
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