Hsiao Bi-khim

Hsiao Bi-khim (born Bi-khim Louise Hsiao; 7 August 1971) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who has been the 13th and current vice president of the Republic of China since 2024, serving under President Lai Ching-te. She is Taiwan's first biracial vice president. She was the Taiwanese representative to the United States from 2020 to 2023, and formerly served as a legislator of the Legislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and again between 2012 and 2020.

Born in Kōbe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, to a Taiwanese father and an American mother, Hsiao grew up in Tainan, Taiwan, before moving to the United States, where she graduated from Oberlin College and earned a master's degree in political science from Columbia University. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), she is an important figure in the party's foreign policy circles. She formerly served as a vice president of Liberal International.

Early life and education

Hsiao was born on 7 August 1971 in Kōbe, Japan. Her father Hsiao Ching-fen is Taiwanese while her mother Peggy Cooley is American. Hsiao's maternal family's presence in the United States dates back to the ''Mayflower'' (1620).

Hsiao grew up in the city of Tainan in southern Taiwan. She spoke Mandarin, Taiwanese Hokkien, and English, and was raised in a Presbyterian family. She moved to the United States as a teenager and graduated from Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey. Hsiao graduated from Oberlin College in 1993 with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian studies. She then did graduate study in political science at Columbia University and received a Master of Arts in 1995. Hsiao stayed at Columbia to pursue a doctorate in political science and was recruited to establish an office for the DPP in Washington, D.C. She ultimately left the university's Ph.D. program in order to return to Taiwan during its 1996 presidential election.

Entry into politics

In the United States, Hsiao became active with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative office in the US, serving as an activity coordinator. On returning to Taiwan, Hsiao became the party's international affairs director, and represented the party at various international conferences for over a decade.

After Chen Shui-bian took office as the President of the Republic of China in 2000, Hsiao served as his interpreter and advisor for nearly two years. Her dual US and Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship while she was holding a government position became an issue, and she renounced her US citizenship in 2002, as required by the Civil Servants Employment Law passed in 2000.

Legislative career

In January 2001, Hsiao announced her intention to run for the Legislative Yuan on the DPP ticket as a supplementary member representing overseas constituencies, citing her experience in international relations. She was subsequently elected in December the same year.

In the legislative elections of December 2004, Hsiao was reelected to the Legislative Yuan representing Taipei's first constituency, covering the northern districts of Xinyi, Songshan, Nangang, Neihu, Shilin, and Beitou. As a legislator, she served on the Foreign and Overseas Affairs Committee (外交及僑務委員會), the Procedure Committee (程序委員會), and the Discipline Committee (紀律委員會).

Hsiao worked on a number of issues in the legislature, notably women's rights, the rights of foreigners in Taiwan, and other human rights. Hsiao supported amending the Nationality Law to allow individuals born to at least one parent of ROC nationality to also claim ROC nationality irrespective of age, and has also proposed and cosponsored anti-discrimination and anti-domestic violence amendments to the Immigration Act. She has also been a proponent of animal rights, proposing amendments to the Animal Protection Act, and also pushed for the passage of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act in January 2005.

In May 2005, Hsiao represented the DPP at the annual congress of Liberal International in Sofia, Bulgaria, during which she was elected a vice-president of the organization. Hsiao alleged that she and other DPP representatives were followed throughout their visit to Bulgaria by two unidentified persons sent by the People's Republic of China embassy in Sofia.

The same month, Hsiao also started a campaign to encourage Taiwanese baseball fans to write e-mails to the New York Yankees to ask them to keep Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang at the major league level.

Hsiao was one of the DPP lawmakers targeted by some party supporters as being insufficiently loyal, with a pro-independence radio show dubbing her "Chinese Khim" (中國琴) in March 2007, charging that she was close to the DPP's former New Tide faction. Defended by some other DPP members, Hsiao was still not nominated to stand for re-election by the DPP in the January 2008 legislative elections, a move some attributed to being the result of that controversy.

Hsiao left the Legislative Yuan after her term expired on 31 January 2008. She served as spokesperson for Frank Hsieh's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. She is also vice chairman of the Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation, a member of the board of trustees of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, a member of the executive committee of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, and a founding member of the Taiwan Association for Women in Sport (台灣女子體育運動協會).

From 2010, Hsiao spent a decade representing the DPP in Hualien County, a strongly pro-Kuomintang conservative region. In the same year, she lost with a slim minority in a by-election, but was still regarded as having broken the " iron vote" of the Kuomintang. She then set up a Hualien service office, and continued making weekly journeys between Taipei and Hualien.

Hsiao returned to the Legislative Yuan in February 2012, elected via party list proportional representation. In 2016, Hsiao succeeded Wang Ting-son as legislator for Hualien County. In 2018, an unsuccessful recall campaign was organized against Hsiao because of her strong support for same-sex marriage legalization. Hsiao did not yield to pressure, and continued to speak out for Hualien Pride. In August 2019, she received the Democratic Progressive Party nomination to run for another term in Hualien County. She lost her seat to Fu Kun-chi in the 2020 legislative elections.

Diplomatic career

Hsiao stepped down from the Legislative Yuan upon the end of her term in 2020, and was subsequently named an adviser to the National Security Council in March 2020. That June, Hsiao was appointed Taiwan's representative to the United States. She succeeded Stanley Kao, and was the first woman to assume the role. Hsiao was sworn in to the office on 20 July 2020.

On 20 January 2021, Hsiao was officially invited to and attended the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, the first time Taiwan's US representative had officially attended a US presidential inauguration since the US broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979. Standing in front of the US Capitol at the inauguration, she said "Democracy is our common language and freedom is our common objective."

On Taiwan National Day 2021, Hsiao threw the ceremonial first pitch before a New York Mets game, celebrating the 16th annual Mets Taiwan Day.

On 17 August 2022, in the aftermath of then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan on 2–3 August, China blacklisted seven Taiwanese officials including Hsiao due to their alleged support for Taiwanese independence. The blacklist bans them from entering mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and restricts them from working with Chinese officials. Chinese state-run tabloid ''Global Times'' labelled Hsiao and the six officials as "diehard secessionists".

In April 2023, Hsiao was sanctioned by China for the second time in aftermath of the meeting between President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen and then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy in the United States. The second set of sanctions also include preventing investors and firms related to the sanctioned individuals from cooperating with mainland China organisations and individuals.

On 20 November 2023, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Lai Ching-te officially named Hsiao his vice presidential candidate for the 2024 presidential election. Hsiao was succeeded by Alexander Yui in her U.S. post at the end of the month.

Vice presidency (2024–present)

In January 2024, Lai and Hsiao were elected president and vice president in the DPP's third consecutive presidential victory. She made her first foreign trip as vice president-elect in March, visiting the United States and later the Czech Republic, prompting strong opposition from China, which labeled her a "diehard Taiwan independence separatist." During her visit to the Czech Republic, a car from the PRC embassy was stopped for allegedly tailing her convoy, leading to an investigation. In May, she advocated for Taiwan's participation in the World Health Assembly during events in Taipei. In August, China's Taiwan Affairs Office added a new section to its website, listing 10 Taiwanese politicians and officials including Hsiao as "die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists." In response, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council criticized the move as hindering positive exchanges between the two sides.

Personal life

Her father, Hsiao Ching-fen, was a former president of the Tainan Theological College and Seminary.

In November 2000, ''The Journalist'', a local tabloid magazine, wrongly claimed to have been told by Vice President Annette Lu that Hsiao was having an affair with President Chen. No evidence supported the false claim, and Lu sued the magazine for libel in civil court. The magazine was eventually ordered to apologize and issue corrections admitting it had fabricated the story.

During her political career, Hsiao and fellow legislators Cheng Li-chun and Chiu Yi-ying gained the nickname "the S.H.E of the DPP." Hsiao has been a long-time supporter of gender equality and LGBT rights in Taiwan.

Hsiao is a cat lover, saying in July 2020 that she planned to take her four cats with her when she moved to the US as Taiwan's top representative to the country. As Taiwan's envoy, she said that she would combat China's allegedly aggressive "wolf warrior" (戰狼) diplomacy with her own brand of "cat warrior" (戰貓) diplomacy.

Honors

* Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon (Taiwan, 2024)

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Official Website of Bi-Khim Hsiao (Archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hsiao, Bi-Khim
1971 births
Taiwanese anti-communists
21st-century Taiwanese women politicians
American emigrants to Taiwan
American people of Taiwanese descent
Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
Democratic Progressive Party Members of the Legislative Yuan
Former United States citizens
Hualien County Members of the Legislative Yuan
Living people
Members of the 5th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 6th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 8th Legislative Yuan
Members of the 9th Legislative Yuan
Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni
People from Montclair, New Jersey
Oberlin College alumni
Party List Members of the Legislative Yuan
People from Kobe
Politicians of the Republic of China on Taiwan from Tainan
Recipients of the Order of Brilliant Star
Representatives of Taiwan to the United States
Taipei Members of the Legislative Yuan
Taiwan independence activists
Taiwanese individuals subject to Chinese sanctions
Taiwanese LGBTQ rights activists
Taiwanese people of Hoklo descent
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Taiwanese women ambassadors