2024-02-27
GMF delegation visits Vice President-elect Hsiao: Taiwan will continue to strengthen global ties!
Bonnie Glaser, managing director of GMF’s Indo-Pacific program, led a delegation comprised of participants of the Taiwan-US Policy Program (TUPP) to visit Vice President-elect Bi-khim Hsiao at the DPP headquarters. The meeting was hosted by DPP Acting Secretary-General Andrea Yi-shan Yang, Director of International Affairs Wen Lii, and Deputy Director of International Affairs Alysa Wen-Li Chiu.
Bi-khim Hsiao thanked Bonnie Glaser for leading a global delegation of next-generation policy experts on international affairs to Taiwan. Hsiao introduced the history behind the founding of the party alongside its guiding principles, as well as the context and key moments behind the democratization of Taiwan. She noted that the DPP is highly resilient; from the martial law era to the present day, the party has served as the engine of social progress in Taiwan, learning many lessons throughout the process.
Hsiao remarked that Taiwan’s progress not only shines through in its political openness but also in terms of various democratization and freedom indices. Taiwan is top-ranked in Asia and is among the top globally on such indices. In addition to respect for constitutionally protected civil rights, as the regional leader in LGBTQ rights, Taiwan is also the first country to legalize same-sex marriage in Asia. In the future, Taiwan will continue to serve as a beacon of progressive values regionally and as a global force for good.
On youth issues, Hsiao mentioned the common challenges faced by the younger generations in Taiwan and globally, including income inequality, the rising cost of living, and the impact of technology on education and employment. These themes are common issues across different regions of the world and it is an issue that governments must face. The future DPP administration will also devote more resources to tackle these issues with actual policies to meet the demands of the youth.
On Taiwan-US relations, Hsiao remarked on her visit to the Legislative Yuan this morning to attend the inauguration of the Legislative Yuan US Caucus. (LUC) She is very pleased that the mission of improving Taiwan-US bilateral relations enjoys cross-party support in Taiwan. She also remarked that one of her responsibilities in Washington was to ensure Taiwan-US relations remain a matter of bipartisan consensus and concurrently avoid politicizing support for Taiwan. As of now, Taiwan’s importance is not only a bipartisan consensus in the US, but the mutually beneficial relationship bound by common values and interests forms the cornerstone of bilateral ties.
About Taiwan’s international participation, Bi-khim Hsiao noted the unique pressures Taiwan faces internationally. Taiwan is unfairly treated when participating in intergovernmental organizations and its diplomatic space is constantly suppressed. Taiwan is extremely grateful to the United States and other like-minded countries who continue to voice out support for Taiwan, and its diplomatic allies in the United Nations who continue making the case for Taiwan’s international participation. Taiwan will seek to engage with the world and create more connections multilaterally.
