Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said he is deeply moved by Taiwan’s democratic development and finds it remarkable, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday cited him as saying.
Christensen, who served as director of the AIT from 2018 to 2021, recently visited Taiwan and met with Lin at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei on Friday last week.
Lin yesterday on Facebook wrote that when Christensen was about to leave his post and return to the US in 2021, Lin and his wife visited the former AIT director to bid him farewell, and gave him a train ticket from Yongkang (永康) to Baoan (保安) station in Tainan as a gift to wish him all the best.
Photo: Screen grab from Lin Chia-lung’s Facebook page
The ticket with the two station names forms the phrase Yong Bao An Kang (永保安康), meaning “peace and health forever” when read counterclockwise.
Christensen later became the charge d’affaires of the US Mission to the International Civil Aviation Organization, and assisted in Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the organization, Lin said, adding that he is “a good friend of Taiwan through and through.”
Having retired from the US Department of State, Christensen is now teaching cross-strait relations at Brigham Young University in his home state, Utah, Lin said.
Lin said that the former AIT director told him that after retiring from public service, he finally has time to dive deep into Taiwan’s history, and that he is deeply moved by Taiwan’s democratization journey, calling it remarkable.
Christensen also believes the high number and quality of Chinese language teachers from Taiwan can help more foreign nationals learn the language, he said.
Christensen also mentioned that he looks forward to seeing more Taiwanese students going abroad as part of President William Lai’s (賴清德) Youth Overseas Dream Fund program, and that they can choose to study at Brigham Young University, Lin said.
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