Taiwan’s ‘cat warrior’ Hsiao Bi-khim takes on VP role

TAIPEI - Ms Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s newly inaugurated vice-president, rose to prominence as the top envoy to the US, where her track record of securing support for the self-ruled island has put her in China’s crosshairs.

A fluent English speaker, Ms Hsiao is arguably better known on the global stage than President Lai Ching-te – though the pair are equally despised by Beijing.

Ms Hsiao and Mr Lai both hail from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which champions Taiwan’s sovereignty.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, has branded them an “independence duo”.

Ms Hsiao, 52, has described her diplomatic style as “cat warrior” – an apparent allusion to China’s confrontational “wolf warrior diplomacy” on the world stage.

She has vowed to keep working in a “complicated strategic environment to maximise Taiwan-US relations”.

While the US does not diplomatically recognise Taiwan, it is the island’s most prominent supporter and arms supplier.

Ms Hsiao’s role in the new administration will be “substantial, especially on matters related to the United States”, according to Professor Luo Chih-mei of the National Taipei University.

During Ms Hsiao’s three-year stint in Washington, US-Taiwan relations soared to an all-time high.

A US Senate committee approved the Taiwan Policy Act in 2022, providing Taipei with security assistance to the tune of US$4.5 billion (S$6 billion) over four years.

“She’s lauded in Washington for her steady management of the US-Taiwan relationship, and I would expect her to play an important supporting role in Taiwan’s foreign policy,” said Dr Raymond Kuo, Taiwan Policy Initiative director at Rand Corporation.

Professor Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute in London, said Mr Lai will lean on Ms Hsiao’s experience in diplomacy.

‘She knows the process’

Born in Japan to a Taiwanese father and an American mother, Ms Hsiao spent her childhood in the southern city of Tainan before moving to the US in her teens.

She studied political science at Columbia University and returned to Taiwan in 1996 to embark on her political career.

Due to her mixed heritage and international background, Ms Hsiao is regarded by some as a symbol of Taiwan’s diversity – and by others as a danger to the island.

Ahead of the January elections, a massive surge of misinformation flooded the video-sharing platform TikTok targeting Ms Hsiao – even more so than Mr Lai – alleging she was secretly a US citizen.

Ms Hsiao has repeatedly said she gave up her US citizenship years ago, and AFP found her name on a US government list of people who have renounced their nationality.

But there were also voters who felt more comfortable with a Lai-Hsiao ticket, as she was “the most recognisable face of US-Taiwan ties in Washington”, said political scientist Wen-ti Sung.

Ms Hsiao is also a close confidant of outgoing president Tsai Ing-wen, giving the new administration a reassuring image of continuity.

“That unity is essential as Lai faces a challenging four years ahead as a minority government,” said Mr Sung, referring to the DPP’s loss of a majority in Parliament. AFP