Hsiao Bi-khim | |||||||||||||||||
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蕭美琴 | |||||||||||||||||
 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16thVice President of the Republic of China | |||||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 20 May 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| President | Lai Ching-te | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Lai Ching-te | ||||||||||||||||
| 15thRepresentative of Taiwan to the United States | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 20 July 2020 – 30 November 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| President | Tsai Ing-wen | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stanley Kao | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alexander Yui | ||||||||||||||||
| Member of the Legislative Yuan | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 February 2012 – 31 January 2020 | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Wang Ting-son (9th) | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Fu Kun-chi (9th) | ||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Hualien County (9th) Party-list (8th) | ||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 February 2002 – 1 February 2008 | |||||||||||||||||
| Constituency | Taipei 1 (6th) Overseas (5th) | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | Bi-Khim Louise Hsiao (1971-08-07)7 August 1971 (age 54) Kobe, Japan | ||||||||||||||||
| Citizenship | Taiwan United States (until 2002)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Party | Democratic Progressive Party | ||||||||||||||||
| Education | Oberlin College (BA) Columbia University (MA) | ||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蕭美琴 | ||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 萧美琴 | ||||||||||||||||
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Hsiao Bi-khim[a][b] (bornBi-khim Louise Hsiao;[1] 7 August 1971) is a Taiwanese politician and diplomat who has served asVice President of the Republic of China since 2024, serving under PresidentLai Ching-te. She was theTaiwanese representative to the United States from 2020 to 2023, and formerly served as a legislator of theLegislative Yuan from 2002 to 2008 and again between 2012 and 2020.
Hsiao was born inKōbe,Japan. She was raised inTainan, Taiwan, before moving to the United States, where she graduated fromOberlin College and earned a master's degree in political science fromColumbia University. A member of theDemocratic Progressive Party (DPP),[2] she is an important figure in the party's foreign policy circles.[3] She formerly served as a vice president ofLiberal International.[4]
Hsiao was born on 7 August 1971 inKōbe,Japan. Her father, Hsiao Ching-fen, is Taiwanese while her mother, Peggy Cooley, is American. Hsiao's maternal family's presence in the North America dates back to theMayflower (1620).[5]
Hsiao grew up in the city ofTainan in southern Taiwan. She spokeMandarin,Taiwanese Hokkien, andEnglish, and was raised in aPresbyterian family.[6][7][8] She moved to theUnited States as a teenager and graduated fromMontclair High School inMontclair, New Jersey.[9]
After high school, Hsiao graduated fromOberlin College in 1993 with aBachelor of Arts inEast Asian studies. She then did graduate study inpolitical science atColumbia University and received aMaster of Arts in 1995.[3][10][11] Hsiao stayed at Columbia to pursue a doctorate in political science and was recruited to establish an office for the DPP inWashington, D.C.[12] She ultimately left the university's Ph.D. program in order to return to Taiwan during its1996 presidential election.[13]
In the United States, Hsiao became active with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative office in the US, serving as an activity coordinator. On returning to Taiwan, Hsiao became the party's international affairs director, and represented the party at various international conferences for over a decade.[10]
AfterChen Shui-bian took office as thePresident of the Republic of China in 2000, Hsiao served as his interpreter and advisor for nearly two years.[10] Her dual US andRepublic of China (Taiwan) citizenship while she was holding a government position became an issue, and sherenounced her US citizenship in 2002, as required by the Civil Servants Employment Law passed in 2000.[14][1]
In January 2001, Hsiao announced her intention to run for theLegislative Yuan on the DPP ticket as asupplementary member representing overseas constituencies, citing her experience in international relations.[15] She was subsequently elected in December the same year.[10]
In thelegislative elections of December 2004, Hsiao was reelected to the Legislative Yuan representingTaipei's first constituency, covering the northern districts ofXinyi,Songshan,Nangang,Neihu,Shilin, andBeitou. As a legislator, she served on the Foreign and Overseas Affairs Committee (外交及僑務委員會), the Procedure Committee (程序委員會), and the Discipline Committee (紀律委員會).[2]
Hsiao worked on a number of issues in the legislature, notablywomen's rights, the rights of foreigners in Taiwan, and otherhuman rights. Hsiao supported amending the Nationality Law to allow individuals born to at least one parent of ROC nationality to also claim ROC nationality irrespective of age,[16] and has also proposed and cosponsored anti-discrimination and anti-domestic violence amendments to the Immigration Act.[17] She has also been a proponent ofanimal rights, proposing amendments to the Animal Protection Act,[18] and also pushed for the passage of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act in January 2005.[19]
In May 2005, Hsiao represented the DPP at the annual congress ofLiberal International inSofia,Bulgaria, during which she was elected a vice-president of the organization. Hsiao alleged that she and other DPP representatives were followed throughout their visit to Bulgaria by two unidentified persons sent by thePeople's Republic of China embassy in Sofia.[20]
The same month, Hsiao also started a campaign to encourage Taiwanese baseball fans to write e-mails to theNew York Yankees to ask them to keep Taiwanese pitcherChien-Ming Wang at themajor league level.[21]
Hsiao was one of the DPP lawmakers targeted by some party supporters as being insufficiently loyal, with a pro-independence radio show dubbing her "Chinese Khim" (中國琴) in March 2007, charging that she was close to the DPP's formerNew Tide faction.[22] Defended by some other DPP members, Hsiao was still not nominated to stand for re-election by the DPP in the January 2008legislative elections,[23] a move some attributed to being the result of that controversy.[24]
Hsiao left the Legislative Yuan after her term expired on 31 January 2008. She served as spokesperson forFrank Hsieh's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign.[25] She is also vice chairman of the Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation,[26] a member of the board of trustees of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy,[27] a member of the executive committee of theCouncil of Asian Liberals and Democrats,[28] and a founding member of the Taiwan Association for Women in Sport (台灣女子體育運動協會).[29]
From 2010, Hsiao spent a decade representing the DPP inHualien County, a strongly pro-Kuomintang conservative region. In the same year, she lost with a slim minority in a by-election, but was still regarded as having broken the "iron vote" of the Kuomintang.[30] She then set up a Hualien service office, and continued making weekly journeys between Taipei and Hualien.[30]
Hsiao returned to the Legislative Yuan in February 2012, elected via party list proportional representation. In 2016, Hsiao succeededWang Ting-son as legislator forHualien County. In 2018, an unsuccessful recall campaign was organized against Hsiao because of her strong support forsame-sex marriage legalization. Hsiao did not yield to pressure, and continued to speak out for Hualien Pride.[30] In August 2019, she received the Democratic Progressive Party nomination to run for another term in Hualien County.[31] She lost her seat toFu Kun-chi in the 2020 legislative elections.[32]
Hsiao stepped down from the Legislative Yuan upon the end of her term in 2020, and was subsequently named an adviser to theNational Security Council in March 2020. That June, Hsiao was appointed Taiwan's representative to the United States. She succeededStanley Kao, and was the first woman to assume the role.[33][34] Hsiao was sworn in to the office on 20 July 2020.[35]
On 20 January 2021, Hsiao was officially invited to and attended theinauguration of US President Joe Biden, the first time Taiwan's US representative had officially attended a US presidential inauguration since the US broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979. Standing in front of the US Capitol at the inauguration, she said "Democracy is our common language and freedom is our common objective."[36]
OnTaiwan National Day 2021, Hsiao threw the ceremonial first pitch before aNew York Mets game, celebrating the 16th annual Mets Taiwan Day.[37]
On 17 August 2022, in the aftermath of thenSpeaker of the United States House of RepresentativesNancy Pelosi'svisit to Taiwan on 2–3 August, China blacklisted seven Taiwanese officials including Hsiao as "diehard "Taiwan independence" separatists" due to their support forTaiwan independence. The blacklist bans them from enteringmainland China and theSpecial Administrative Regions ofHong Kong andMacau, and restricts them from working with Chinese officials. Chinese state-run tabloidGlobal Times labelled Hsiao and the six officials as "diehard secessionists".[38]
In April 2023, Hsiao was sanctioned by China for the second time in aftermath of the meeting betweenPresident of TaiwanTsai Ing-wen and then Speaker of the United States House of RepresentativesKevin McCarthy in the United States. The second set of sanctions also include preventing investors and firms related to the sanctioned individuals from cooperating with mainland China organisations and individuals.[39]
On 20 November 2023, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidateLai Ching-te officially named Hsiao his vice presidential candidate for the2024 presidential election.[40] Hsiao was succeeded byAlexander Yui in her U.S. post at the end of the month.[41]
In January 2024, Lai and Hsiao were elected president and vice president in the DPP's third consecutive presidential victory.[42] She made her first foreign trip as vice president-elect in March, visiting the United States and later the Czech Republic, prompting strong opposition from China, which labeled her a "diehard Taiwan independence separatist."[43][44] During her visit toPrague, Czech Republic, a car from the PRC embassy was stopped for tailing her convoy, leading to an investigation.[45][46] She was being followed by a diplomat from theEmbassy of China who had ignored traffic signs and almost caused a car accident. The diplomat was arrested, and theCzech Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Chinese ambassador.Pavel Fischer, chairman of theCzech Senate's Foreign Affairs Committee, called for him to be expelled citing violations of theVienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. In June 2025, theCzech Military Intelligence said that altercation had been planned by the Chinese embassy, which had continuously monitored and tracked Hsiao and intended to intimidate her. The Military Intelligence stated that such infiltration operations by the People's Republic of China were unprecedented in Europe. TheInter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) issued a statement condemning the act.[47][48][49][50][51][52]
In May 2024, she advocated for Taiwan's participation in theWorld Health Assembly during events in Taipei.[53] In August, China'sTaiwan Affairs Office added a new section to its website, listing 10 Taiwanese politicians and officials including Hsiao as "die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists." In response, Taiwan'sMainland Affairs Council criticized the move as hindering positive exchanges between the two sides.[54]
In November 2025, Hsiao addressed theInter-Parliamentary Alliance on China andEuropean Parliament in Brussels.[55] This marked the first time Taiwan had participated in an IPAC summit with full membership, and the first speech by a Taiwanese vice president at the European Parliament.[56]
Her father, Hsiao Ching-fen, was a former president of theTainan Theological College and Seminary.
In November 2000,The Journalist, a local tabloid magazine, wrongly claimed to have been told by Vice PresidentAnnette Lu that Hsiao was having an affair with President Chen. No evidence supported the false claim,[57] and Lu sued the magazine for libel in civil court. The magazine was eventually ordered to apologize and issue corrections admitting it had fabricated the story.[58]
During her political career, Hsiao and fellow legislatorsCheng Li-chun andChiu Yi-ying gained the nickname "theS.H.E of the DPP."[59] Hsiao has been a long-time supporter of gender equality andLGBT rights in Taiwan.[60][61]
Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon (Taiwan, 2024)[62]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Taiwanese Representative to the United States 2020–2023 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | DPP nominee forVice President of the Republic of China 2024 | Most recent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Lai Ching-te | Vice President of the Republic of China 2024–present | Incumbent |
| Beiyang government (1913–1928) |
|  |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutional government indirect elections(1948–1996) | ||
| Constitutional government direct elections(since 1996) | ||
