Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Asian and Pacific Affairs Sung Kim meets Wednesday (Feb. 10) with Taiwan‘s representative to the United States Hsiao Mei-chin to exchange views on issues of mutual concern. This is the first Time since the Biden administration took office that State Department officials have met with Taiwan’s representative to the United States.
The State Department’s Bureau of East Asian Affairs posted a photo of their meeting in a tweet that day, saying, “It was a pleasure to meet today with Representative Hsiao Mei-chin of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the United States. The United States is deepening its relationship with Taiwan, a leading democracy and an important economic and security partner.”
Regarding the meeting, Hsiao told the media that it was her first meeting with the new Acting U.S. Assistant Secretary: “For the first time since being released from quarantine last Thursday, I went to the photo location today and met with the Acting Assistant Secretary for the first time.” Voice of America asked her if the photo location was not within the State Department, to which she replied only: “The photos speak for themselves.”
Following the State Department’s tweet, Michelle Hsiao also retweeted the U.S. tweet on her own Twitter account and said, “I had a great meeting today with Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs Venus and his capable team, and we talked about many topics of mutual interest, reflecting our strong and broad partnership. I also wish this team a happy Lunar New Year.”
Since attending President Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Xiao Meiqin was placed in a 14-day Home quarantine until Feb. 4 because she had been in contact with a confirmed Newcastle outbreak victim. As the Lunar New Year is approaching, she presented Jin Xing with a Chinese New Year couplet during her meeting with him.
Taiwan’s representative office in the U.S. also tweeted that Representative Hsiao appreciated the opportunity to meet with the State Department’s Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian Affairs Jin Xing, saying, “Taiwan and the United States share values and interests around the world. We look forward to further expanding our long-standing friendship and partnership with each other.”
The Yonhap News Agency reported, based on news from the State Department’s official website on January 21, that former U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Kim Sing has been nominated as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific Affairs, responsible for coordinating U.S. foreign policy toward South Korea, China, Japan and Mongolia in the Asia-Pacific region, and that the nomination still needs to be approved by the Senate before a formal appointment can be made.
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