Taiwan presidential front runner William Lai taps high profile US envoy as running mate: Sources

TAIPEI – Mr William Lai Ching-te, the

front runner in Taiwan’s presidential race

, has picked Taipei’s envoy to the United States – a fluent English speaker with deep connections in Washington – to be his running mate for January’s election, sources with direct knowledge said.

Mr Lai, Taiwan’s Vice-President and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) presidential candidate, has almost consistently led opinion polls ahead of the polls taking place amid increased Chinese pressure on Taiwan to accept Beijing’s sovereignty claims.

Ms Hsiao Bi-khim, 52, who has been Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the US since 2020, has been considered by party officials, diplomats and Taiwanese media for months as the most likely running mate for Mr Lai.

That decision has now been made, with a formal announcement coming on Nov 20, once Ms Hsiao returns to Taiwan from the Apec summit in San Francisco, four sources briefed on the matter told Reuters.

Ms Hsiao, well known in the US capital, can act as a key go-between for Taipei and Washington, the island’s most important arms seller and international backer despite the absence of formal ties, one of the sources said.

“It's a crucial role, and she has the needed international experience,” said the source, speaking like the others on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

Mr Vincent Chao, spokesman for the Lai campaign, declined to comment on Ms Hsiao’s role but said an announcement on a running mate would be made on Monday.

“This candidate will reinforce our commitment to the people of Taiwan and the international community that democracy, peace and prosperity will continue to be our guiding values,” he said.

Mr Ivan Kanapathy, who regularly met Ms Hsiao when he was deputy senior director for Asia at the US National Security Council, told Reuters that Ms Hsiao is a “tireless advocate” for Taiwan.

“If Ambassador Hsiao becomes vice-president, her knowledge, experience and relationships would be invaluable for national security and foreign policy in the next Taiwanese administration,” said Mr Kanapathy, now an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.

Ms Hsiao has been “very engaged on Taiwan’s defence reform efforts, which are drawing on lessons from Ukraine”, he said, pointing to examples such as initiatives for Taipei to acquire more munitions, including Patriot missiles.

Mr Randall Schriver, the former US assistant secretary of defence for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, described Ms Hsiao as a “good partner in promoting US-Taiwan relations”.

“If Ambassador Hsiao becomes vice-president, there is no doubt this will be to the benefit of US-Taiwan relations,” said Mr Schriver, who leads the Project 2049 Institute, a think-tank. He added that he takes no position regarding the Taiwan campaign.

The DPP champions Taiwan’s separate identity from China. The DPP-led government says only Taiwan’s people can decide their future, and has repeatedly offered talks with Beijing but has been rebuffed. Mr Lai has during the past week talked up Ms Hsiao in interviews with local media, without directly confirming he had picked her, calling her “very principled” and “thorough” and that he had always admired her.

Ms Hsiao was born in Japan to a Taiwanese father and American mother and initially worked in the office of then President Chen Shui-bian, also from the DPP, and then as a DPP lawmaker.

Like Mr Lai, Ms Hsiao is detested by China, which has on two occasions

placed sanctions on her

, more recently in April, saying she is an “independence diehard”.

China’s Taiwan Affairs Office on Wednesday referred to Mr Lai and Ms Hsiao as an “independence double act” and that Taiwan's people are “very clear” about what them teaming up means for the “situation in the Taiwan Strait”. It did not elaborate. REUTERS