Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party Names Hsiao Meiqin as Deputy Candidate for 2024 Election
With only about 50 days left before the voting day for Taiwan’s 2024 general election, Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Lai Ching-te announced on Monday that his deputy candidate is the current Taiwan Representative to the United States, Hsiao Meiqin. Lai Ching-te posted on social media that this was his “best decision” and that he believed Hsiao Meiqin was definitely “a leader in Taiwan’s diplomatic work today.”
Hsiao Meiqin was born in Japan in 1971, and her mother is from the United States. She rose to prominence in Taiwanese politics after joining the Democratic Progressive Party in the 1990s. After returning to Taiwan from New York in 1996, she successively served as the director of the International Affairs Department of the Democratic Progressive Party and a Taiwan legislator. Hsiao Meiqin, who has no faction in the party, is deeply trusted by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. In 2020, she was re-appointed as the president of the Republic of China’s first female representative to the United States.
The New York Times reported that when the COVID-19 pandemic was raging and cross-strait tensions were at their peak, Hsiao was able to flexibly mediate in Washington and was able to enter and exit the White House. Stephen M. Young, former director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said he knew Hsiao Meiqin in Taipei in the 1990s and observed her political experience, and performance as Taiwan’s representative to the United States in recent years.
The announcement of Hsiao Meiqin as the deputy candidate for the 2024 election has been met with criticism from Beijing. In August 2022, Beijing publicly named Hsiao Meiqin as the “initiator” of planning Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and announced sanctions against her. Mainland China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian has criticized the partnership of Lai Qingde and Xiao Meiqin, calling them a “double-independence combination” and “independence plus independence.”
However, Hsiao Meiqin’s supporters believe she will be an asset to the Democratic Progressive Party’s election campaign. Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called Hsiao Meiqin an excellent diplomat who “knows her role in the economic and cultural aspects of Taiwan and the United States,” and understands that international security is the key to global relations.
Xiao Meiqin grew up in Tainan and speaks fluent Chinese and Hokkien in addition to English. After studying in the United States, she entered politics and became part of the Democratic Progressive Party in the 1990s. She has been involved in legislative work and has promoted progressive policies, making her a popular figure among young people in Taiwan.
As the general election in Taiwan approaches, the campaign activities of each candidate team are in full swing. BBC Chinese takes three women from different positions, generations, and political parties as a slice, and through them tries to see the challenges of this group: What is it like to be a female political worker in Taiwan?
In 2016, Hsiao Meiqin participated in the legislative election of Hualien and was elected with a high vote, which is regarded as a “miracle” in Taiwanese politics. She is considered a liberal within the Democratic Progressive Party and has promoted progressive policies, making her a popular figure among young people in Taiwan.