Hsiao Bi-khim
Taiwanese politician and diplomat. Vice President of Taiwan (since 2024)
Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴; born August 7, 1971) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who served as a member of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and again between 2012 and 2020. Since July 2020, Hsiao has been serving as the representative of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the United States.
Quotes
edit- The support for Taiwan and friendship with Taiwan is pretty much the same. My job here has three main focal points – security, economic issues, and political and international participation.
- We also hope that the U.S., through its global influence, can encourage other like-minded countries to support Taiwan, take an interest in regional security, and support Taiwan’s international participation.
- This level of mutual trust is an extremely important foundation for Taiwan-U.S. relations. We are walking a tightrope and need to move very carefully. There will be times when we face setbacks, but in the end, we are still moving forward.
- There is a longer-term threat and that is, China hasn’t renounced the use of force to absorb Taiwan, and that is not a new threat. It’s been there for decades.
- The reality is that China has opposed almost every international initiative we have tried over the last four decades. They have also opposed efforts we have made to strengthen Taiwan's democracy. I mean, they tried to test fire missiles in the Taiwan Strait area when we had our first presidential election.
- Taiwan right now stands at the front lines of countering economic, political, and military coercion from the PRC. And the best way for supporting Taiwan is to engage with Taiwan on these fronts. And of course, on the economic side deepening our trade and investment relations with a stronger legal infrastructure, such as a trade agreement, would certainly help that effort.
- We are in a period of complicated politics and a geostrategic situation. Certainly the imperative is there to initiate negotiations. That is very much Taiwan's agenda. We certainly hope that the U.S. would share that view and also work with us to proceed with negotiations.
- As a governmental delegate, [I] should not take a side in a domestic election in the U.S. because it is after all the choice to be made by the American people.
- Our top priority is to maintain regional stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait and beyond. It is not a matter only for Taiwan but a common issue for the interests of other regional stakeholders.
- Taiwanese people have lived under military threat from China over several decades. It will continue to be a problem for the people of Taiwan as long as the Chinese do not renounce the use of force. However, we are in the dynamic process of enhancing our capabilities of curbing its threats. I see that we are in a position to deter the Chinese by making it their consideration of an invasion too costly to operationalize.
- It is clear that peace in the Taiwan Strait is a very important matter that has global consequences. Again, it would be in everyone's interest to see stability and peace maintained, to do what is possible to deter any kind of destabilizing moves and any unilateral changes to this to the stable situation in the Taiwan Strait on part of the PRC.
- Taiwan and South Korea maintain a deeply strong trade partnership. We are open to any opportunity to complement each other and make both of us more capable and competent. I am aware that South Korea has a great influence on the semiconductor industry. Thus, I think that both of us can cooperate as long as we share a common goal, which is technological advancement that will take humanity to the next level. A shared purpose between us is to invent technologies not to control and monitor citizens but to make quality of life better for all in cooperation with our partnering nations.
