Hsiao Bi-khim
Encyclopedia
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese political figure associated with the Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
(DPP), serving in the past as a legislator
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...
, as well as an important figure in DPP foreign policy circles. She is also a Vice President of Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
.
Background
Hsiao was born in KobeKobe
, pronounced , is the fifth-largest city in Japan and is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture on the southern side of the main island of Honshū, approximately west of Osaka...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, to a Taiwanese father and American mother. Raised in Tainan, Hsiao grew up speaking Mandarin, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
ese, and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
from a young age. After moving to the United States during her high school years, Hsiao completed her undergraduate studies at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
, receiving a BA in East Asian Studies. She continued on to graduate school at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, where she received her Master's degree in political science.
Early career
While in the United States, Hsiao became active with the Democratic Progressive PartyDemocratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
's (DPP) US representative office, serving as an activity coordinator. Upon returning to Taiwan, Hsiao became the DPP's Director of International Affairs, representing the party in several international conferences for over a decade.
Hsiao worked for the Presidential office and served as an advisor and interpreter to President Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
for nearly two years after his election in 2000. Her dual US and ROC citizenship while holding a government position became a political issue in late 2000, and she renounced her US citizenship the same year as required by the Civil Servants Employment Law at the time.
In November 2000, The Journalist, a local tabloid magazine, claimed to have been told by Vice-President Annette Lu
Annette Lu
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien , was the Vice President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008, under Chen Shui-bian. She announced her intentions to run for President of Taiwan on March 6, 2007, but withdrew in order to support DPP presidential nominee, Frank Hsieh...
that Hsiao was having an affair with President Chen. No evidence supported the tale, 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.
Legislative career
In January 2001, Hsiao announced her intention to run for the Legislative YuanLegislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...
on the DPP ticket as a supplementary member
Parallel voting
Parallel voting describes a mixed voting system where voters in effect participate in two separate elections for a single chamber using different systems, and where the results in one election have little or no impact on the results of the other...
representing overseas constituencies, citing her experience in international relations. She was subsequently elected in December the same year.
In the legislative elections of December 2004, Hsiao was reelected to the Legislative Yuan representing Taipei City's 1st Constituency, covering the northern districts of Xinyi, Songshan, Nangang
Nangang district
Nangang District is the largest and most populated district of Harbin, People's Republic of China. It is home to major offices of the provincial government and is the political heart of Heilongjiang province. Other areas of interest within the district are the Harbin Railway Station, Guomao...
, Neihu, Shilin, and Beitou. As a legislator, she served on the Legislative Yuan 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).
Hsiao worked on a number of issues in the legislature, notably women's rights, the rights of foreigners in Taiwan, and other human rights legislation. 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, and has also proposed and cosponsored anti-discrimination and anti-domestic violence amendments to the Immigration Act. She has also been a proponent of animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, proposing amendments to the Animal Protection Act, and also pushed for the passage of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act in January 2005.
In May 2005, Hsiao represented the DPP at the annual congress of Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
in Sofia
Sofia
Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, during which she was elected as 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 the PRC embassy in Sofia.
The same month, Hsiao also started a campaign to encourage Taiwanese baseball fans to write e-mails to the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
to request that the Yankees keep Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang
Chien-Ming Wang
Chien-Ming Wang is a Taiwanese Major League Baseball pitcher. He was initially signed as an amateur free agent by the New York Yankees for the 2000 season, and played for the Staten Island Yankees...
at the major league level
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
. The move led to some domestic criticism as being embarrassing and unnecessary.
Hsiao was one of the DPP lawmakers targeted by some party supporters as being insufficiently loyal, with a pro-independence radio show dubbing her as "Chinese Khim" (中國琴) in March 2007, charging that she was close to the DPP's former New Tide faction
New Tide faction
The New Tide faction was one of the factions of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan before the party voted to dissolve all factions in 2006. The faction initially advocated social democracy, attempting to work with other labor and social movements to influence public policy...
. Though defended by some other DPP members, Hsiao was not nominated to stand for reelection by the DPP in the January 2008 legislative elections
Republic of China legislative election, 2008
The 7th Legislative elections were held on January 12, 2008 in the Republic of China . The results gave the Kuomintang and the Pan-Blue Coalition a supermajority in the legislature, handing a heavy defeat to then-President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party, which won the remaining 27...
, a move some attributed to be the result of that controversy.
Post-legislative career
Hsiao left the Legislative Yuan after her term expired on January 31, 2008. She continues to be active within the DPP, and served as spokesperson for Frank HsiehFrank Hsieh
Frank Hsieh Chang-ting is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party in the Republic of China. He was the mayor of Kaohsiung City until his appointment as President of the Executive Yuan by president Chen Shui-bian on February 1, 2005. He announced his resignation from the post of...
's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. She is also vice chairman of the Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation, a member of the board of trustees of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, a member of the executive committee of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats
The Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats is a regional organization of liberal and democratic political parties in Asia. The Council was created on October 15, 1993, in a meeting in Taipei...
, and a founding member of the Taiwan Association for Women in Sport (台灣女子體育運動協會)