Several foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries stayed in Beijing over the past two days. They mainly came to discuss the war in the Middle East. This indicates the growing geopolitical influence of the People’s Republic in almost the entire region – except in Israel, analyzes Joern Petring. However, mediators who are not heard equally by both sides have little chance of success. Therefore, this role continues to fall to the United States.
The pending takeover of the German start-up Franka Emika by Agile Robots has triggered alarm in the country’s political and business communities. Economy Minister Habeck was publicly urged to prohibit the takeover. After all, Agile Robots has connections to China: One of its founders and a number of supervisory board members are from China, the company has a second office in Beijing and several Chinese investors have invested in the AI robotics company.
Nevertheless, the comparison to the takeover of robot manufacturer Kuka by the Chinese electronics manufacturer Midea is a stretch, as Finn Mayer-Kuckuk writes. After all, Agile Robots is using Chinese capital to create new high-tech in Germany. And so, the Franka Emika case remains in the gray area, and political intervention is by no means certain.
China has scored another small diplomatic success in the Middle East. On Monday, four Arab foreign ministers and the foreign minister of Muslim Indonesia traveled to Beijing – a sign of the People’s Republic’s growing geopolitical influence. The delegation also included the secretaries-general of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
They started their tour of the permanent members of the UN Security Council in Beijing. These include France, Russia, the USA, the UK and China. The fact that the delegation made its first stop in the Chinese capital shows how much the Arab world hopes for Chinese support in resolving the conflict.
After all, Beijing surprisingly brokered an agreement back in March that restored relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after seven years of tension. Since then, the Arab part of the region, in particular, has come to trust Beijing more.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister and top diplomat, did not disappoint his guests from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian National Authority and Indonesia. At the very beginning of the two-day talks, Wang pledged to work together with the “brothers and sisters” in the Arab and Islamic world to end the war in Gaza as quickly as possible.
“China is a good friend and brother of the Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang continued. China has always defended the “legitimate rights and interests of the Arab and Islamic countries and strongly supported the efforts of the Palestinian people.”
The ministers then emphasized the urgency of immediately halting the “military escalation” in Gaza and advancing the political process for a lasting peace. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation must be held “accountable for their crimes in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank.”
The meeting in Beijing did not offer tangible solutions but provided a platform to criticize Israel. “This is not Israel’s first war against the Palestinian people,” said Riyad Al-Maliki, Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority. “However, Israel wants this to be its last war.”
The visit came shortly after Arab and Muslim leaders condemned the “brutal Israeli aggression” against the Palestinians at a rare joint summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The summit took place last week in Saudi Arabia and was also attended by China. China’s special envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, also traveled through the crisis region.
China has once again scored points with its Arab guests. However, the rift with Israel has become even wider. Tel Aviv is angry at Beijing because it still has not condemned the Hamas attack on 7 October, which left around 1,200 people dead. This is something that should not happen to a selfless mediator. He must call out the offenses committed by both sides. Consequently, China’s attempt at mediation is unlikely to find much support in Israel.
The fact that Beijing tends to send signals that go down well with the population of the Arab part of the region could be due to the People’s Republic’s economic interests. Beijing wants the guns on both sides to cease as quickly as possible so that the region does not turn into a powder keg. After all, a Middle East war would probably have even more grave consequences for China’s economy than for the USA and Europe.
The role of mediator, on the other hand, has once again fallen to the United States. They have at least managed to make a ceasefire more likely, where at least female hostages and children could be freed. This may only be a small step for now – but it is more than China has achieved so far.
A technically proficient robot manufacturer and a potential buyer with ties to China: When the news broke that the German company Franka Emika was to be acquired by its competitor Agile Robots, German business and political circles were startled. After all, the memory of the takeover of robot manufacturer Kuka by Chinese electronics manufacturer Midea still hurts.
The former chairman of the “Verband der Familienunternehmer in Bayern,” Martin Schoeller, has already urged Economy Minister Robert Habeck to prohibit the takeover. Habeck’s ministry, the BMWK, monitors takeovers that could jeopardize public safety. The holding company Schoeller, owned by Schoeller and his brother Christoph, had also submitted a bid for Franka Emika.
However, a closer examination of the Kuka and Franka Emika cases reveals more differences than similarities.
Experts see Agile Robots’ acquisition attempt of Franka Emika as an interesting borderline case. “The takeover by a company based in the EU is not subject to notification requirements,” says Jan Dreyer, partner at law firm FPS in Duesseldorf. At first glance, this means that the planned merger could go through. “But of course, this does not apply if the acquiring EU company is controlled from outside the EU.” This would trigger screening obligations.
The sector of the companies involved is also a gray area. Were the companies in the defense sector, the case would generally be clear: The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) would have to take a very close look. Although robotics is mentioned in section 55 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance as a technology worthy of protection, it is listed under 27 other items. The next steps now largely depend on the discretion of the officials at the BMWK.
Overall, Dreyer expects the takeover to be approved. The BMWK cannot do anything if it turns out that Agile Robots is not controlled by parties outside the EU – i.e., China. All in all, the anti-trust and foreign trade expert sees the Franka Emika case as more of a “storm in a teacup.”
However, Dreyer warns that the ministry’s decision-making behavior has so far been hard to predict. The current screening rules in the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance are very young, dating back to 2020 and 2021, and no legal practice has yet been established. The ministry’s actions are difficult to assess since it does not publicize its decisions.
So, the takeover attempt hinges on whether China controls the buyer Agile Robots or not. The company was spun off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) institute in Wessling, Bavaria, in 2018. Researchers Chen Zhaopeng and Peter Meusel wanted to translate their expertise in robotics into practical applications. The focus was on software, even though the hardware of the robotic arms is also world-class.
So far, it was a purely German start-up. But Chen Zhaopeng is a Chinese national, and Agile Robots maintains a second company headquarters in Beijing. In addition to Japanese, Arab and German investors, Sequoia China and Xiaomi quickly joined as financial backers. With seven of the nine members having Chinese names (as of 2022), the supervisory board looks very Chinese.
However, the question remains whether a Chinese majority on the supervisory board means that a rival power controls the company. It could also be argued that Chinese stakeholders are relocating high-tech companies to Germany.
Another question is to what extent such a takeover would endanger the security of the Federal Republic of Germany. The insolvent takeover target Franka Emika quickly gained recognition thanks to its swift development of a comparatively new idea: the “cobot.” These robots work together with humans without safety barriers or boundaries and without endangering them. After all, while humans may move somewhat predictably, they do not follow clear rules. In other words, the software of a cobot is much better at interpreting humans than conventional robots.
While pioneering, Franka Emika’s technology is probably not crucial to Germany. The case was different with Kuka. Kuka not only has a treasure trove of valuable patents; the Augsburg-based company also supplies its robots primarily to the automotive industry. Robots have to be programmed for new products. As a result, Kuka knows the details of new car models before they are launched on the market.
So it was not just about acquiring Kuka’s own business secrets, but also about gaining access to data of Kuka’s industrial partners. Franka Emika does not have anywhere near this level of networking in the market.
There is also the question of whether foreign trade law’s purpose is more to prevent takeovers – or to benefit the economy. The, at times, months-long approval processes create uncertainty for the companies involved as it is and cost them the trust of their customers, says lawyer Dreyer.
Sinolytics is a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and specific business activities in the People’s Republic.
The future Argentinian President, Javier Milei, is distancing himself from China. According to his shadow foreign minister, he plans to cancel membership of the BRICS group. “We don’t understand what the benefit (of joining BRICS) is for Argentina at the moment,” Diana Mondino told the Russian news agency Sputnik, according to media reports.
Milei had already announced his rejection of BRICS during the election campaign. He campaigned for Argentina to be dollarized – the exact opposite of what BRICS aims for. The BRICS group, which currently includes China, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa, seeks to make the global economy less dependent on the US dollar. It is even toying with the idea of creating its own currency.
With much fanfare, the BRICS group announced the admission of six new members in August, including Argentina. If Buenos Aires now backs out, the balance in the bloc will shift significantly towards Asia. Other candidates for membership are Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Milei, who will take office on December 10, went even further during the election campaign. The right-wing populist politician said that he did not want to “do business with communist countries” and advocated breaking off relations with China in favor of ties with “the civilized side of the world.”
However, analysts do not expect any dramatic changes. China is too important for the country’s economy. Alongside Brazil, China is Argentina’s biggest trading partner; the monthly volume of goods traded is around one billion US dollars. Mondino also recently emphasized that there are no plans to break off diplomatic relations.
“But China is deeply rooted in the foundations of the local economy, which is why it is not easy to reduce levels of dependence. Pragmatism will prevail and, ultimately, the relationship with Beijing will end up being the same as it was in previous governments,” Francisco Urdinez from the Pontifical Catholic University in Chile told the South China Morning Post.
However, the rapprochement is unlikely to be pursued further for the time being. According to consultancy firm Dezan Shira, the two countries agreed a few months ago to settle bilateral trade in yuan rather than US dollars. What will become of this is now unclear.
The financial relationship between highly indebted Argentina and China is also close. Since 2008, Argentina has signed several loan agreements totaling billions of dollars, primarily with the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank. In August, China’s central bank agreed to currency swaps worth 1.7 billion US dollars in yuan so that Buenos Aires can fulfill payment obligations to the International Monetary Fund amounting to 2.7 billion US dollars. The Latin American Development Bank took over the remaining billion.
During the election campaign, Milei had also accused China of financing election ads for his rival, Finance Minister Sergio Massa, on YouTube. ck
Beijing is furious. All the threats made in the run-up to the election have not been effective. There was talk of escalation in the Taiwan Strait, even of a possible war if this “independence fanatic” was actually nominated. But that is precisely what happened.
On Monday, Hsiao Bi-khim was named number two of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the upcoming presidential election in Taiwan. As the DPP and Lai Ching-te are currently leading in all polls, Hsiao could soon become Taiwan’s new vice president.
Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was born in 1971 in Kōbe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She has a Taiwanese father and an American mother. She spent her teenage years in Taiwan before moving to the United States to attend university. It was the beginning of a close relationship.
She initially graduated from Oberlin College in 1993 with a BA in East Asian Studies, followed two years later by a Master’s in Political Science at the renowned Columbia University. Hsiao also obtained dual citizenship – a US passport and a passport from the Republic of China (Taiwan).
She began her political career at the DPP as Director of the Department of International Affairs. After Taiwan’s first democratic change of government in 2000, she spent two years as an advisor and interpreter in the office of then-President Chen Shui-bian. When her dual citizenship became a political problem at that time, Hsiao renounced her US citizenship.
Even after Chen’s presidency, she remained loyal to the DPP. Since 2020, she has been working in her “second home” in the USA again. Many there call her Taiwan’s best ambassador. However, this position does not actually exist, as the United States – like most countries in the world – does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent state. Hsiao’s official title in Washington is Economic and Cultural Representative of Taipei. And instead of an embassy, her office is known as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO).
But that does not diminish Hsiao’s connections. The now 52-year-old is well-networked right up to the highest political level. It is said that she regularly speaks with high-ranking officials of the Biden administration. Hsiao also has excellent contacts with the leaders of both parties in Congress.
Observers praise Hsiao’s calm and reserved demeanor. China, on the other hand, sees Hsiao as a dangerous agitator. Beijing has already sanctioned Hsiao twice – including during Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August. In response, Beijing imposed an entry ban on Hsiao and six other Taiwanese officials. The verbal vilification of Hsiao as an “independence fanatic” also dates back to that time.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council, also described Hsiao as “a pawn of the foreign anti-China forces” who was “pushing Taiwan compatriots into a dangerous abyss,” according to the state-run newspaper China Daily.
Hsiao herself remained unimpressed by the verbal attacks. She said it helped that Washington had developed an appreciation “for Taiwan as a democracy, as a force for good, and as a true partner of the United States.”
However, she once admitted in an interview that it was a tricky balancing act for her – as a representative of a country that does not officially exist and is threatened with military force by its powerful neighbor China. In an allusion to the term “wolf warrior” for China’s generation of highly robust diplomats, Hsiao described herself as a “cat warrior.” After all, “Cats can tread on tight ropes and, you know, balance themselves in very nimble and flexible ways,” Hsiao said.
Hsiao and Taiwan will urgently need these skills. On the one hand, they must secure US support for the small island going forward. On the other hand, China should not be challenged too much. President Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasized that Taiwan would definitely be united with the mainland in the future – peacefully, if possible, otherwise by force. Michael Radunski
The mask is back: Chinese health authorities have recently warned that respiratory diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, COVID-19 and the flu are on the rise again. So far, the situation is no different than in Europe. However, face masks are looser in China. Even in the fresh air, when strolling through a shopping street in Beijing, many take precautions again.
Several foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries stayed in Beijing over the past two days. They mainly came to discuss the war in the Middle East. This indicates the growing geopolitical influence of the People’s Republic in almost the entire region – except in Israel, analyzes Joern Petring. However, mediators who are not heard equally by both sides have little chance of success. Therefore, this role continues to fall to the United States.
The pending takeover of the German start-up Franka Emika by Agile Robots has triggered alarm in the country’s political and business communities. Economy Minister Habeck was publicly urged to prohibit the takeover. After all, Agile Robots has connections to China: One of its founders and a number of supervisory board members are from China, the company has a second office in Beijing and several Chinese investors have invested in the AI robotics company.
Nevertheless, the comparison to the takeover of robot manufacturer Kuka by the Chinese electronics manufacturer Midea is a stretch, as Finn Mayer-Kuckuk writes. After all, Agile Robots is using Chinese capital to create new high-tech in Germany. And so, the Franka Emika case remains in the gray area, and political intervention is by no means certain.
China has scored another small diplomatic success in the Middle East. On Monday, four Arab foreign ministers and the foreign minister of Muslim Indonesia traveled to Beijing – a sign of the People’s Republic’s growing geopolitical influence. The delegation also included the secretaries-general of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
They started their tour of the permanent members of the UN Security Council in Beijing. These include France, Russia, the USA, the UK and China. The fact that the delegation made its first stop in the Chinese capital shows how much the Arab world hopes for Chinese support in resolving the conflict.
After all, Beijing surprisingly brokered an agreement back in March that restored relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran after seven years of tension. Since then, the Arab part of the region, in particular, has come to trust Beijing more.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister and top diplomat, did not disappoint his guests from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian National Authority and Indonesia. At the very beginning of the two-day talks, Wang pledged to work together with the “brothers and sisters” in the Arab and Islamic world to end the war in Gaza as quickly as possible.
“China is a good friend and brother of the Arab and Islamic countries,” Wang continued. China has always defended the “legitimate rights and interests of the Arab and Islamic countries and strongly supported the efforts of the Palestinian people.”
The ministers then emphasized the urgency of immediately halting the “military escalation” in Gaza and advancing the political process for a lasting peace. Furthermore, the Israeli occupation must be held “accountable for their crimes in Gaza, Jerusalem, and the West Bank.”
The meeting in Beijing did not offer tangible solutions but provided a platform to criticize Israel. “This is not Israel’s first war against the Palestinian people,” said Riyad Al-Maliki, Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority. “However, Israel wants this to be its last war.”
The visit came shortly after Arab and Muslim leaders condemned the “brutal Israeli aggression” against the Palestinians at a rare joint summit of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. The summit took place last week in Saudi Arabia and was also attended by China. China’s special envoy for the Middle East, Zhai Jun, also traveled through the crisis region.
China has once again scored points with its Arab guests. However, the rift with Israel has become even wider. Tel Aviv is angry at Beijing because it still has not condemned the Hamas attack on 7 October, which left around 1,200 people dead. This is something that should not happen to a selfless mediator. He must call out the offenses committed by both sides. Consequently, China’s attempt at mediation is unlikely to find much support in Israel.
The fact that Beijing tends to send signals that go down well with the population of the Arab part of the region could be due to the People’s Republic’s economic interests. Beijing wants the guns on both sides to cease as quickly as possible so that the region does not turn into a powder keg. After all, a Middle East war would probably have even more grave consequences for China’s economy than for the USA and Europe.
The role of mediator, on the other hand, has once again fallen to the United States. They have at least managed to make a ceasefire more likely, where at least female hostages and children could be freed. This may only be a small step for now – but it is more than China has achieved so far.
A technically proficient robot manufacturer and a potential buyer with ties to China: When the news broke that the German company Franka Emika was to be acquired by its competitor Agile Robots, German business and political circles were startled. After all, the memory of the takeover of robot manufacturer Kuka by Chinese electronics manufacturer Midea still hurts.
The former chairman of the “Verband der Familienunternehmer in Bayern,” Martin Schoeller, has already urged Economy Minister Robert Habeck to prohibit the takeover. Habeck’s ministry, the BMWK, monitors takeovers that could jeopardize public safety. The holding company Schoeller, owned by Schoeller and his brother Christoph, had also submitted a bid for Franka Emika.
However, a closer examination of the Kuka and Franka Emika cases reveals more differences than similarities.
Experts see Agile Robots’ acquisition attempt of Franka Emika as an interesting borderline case. “The takeover by a company based in the EU is not subject to notification requirements,” says Jan Dreyer, partner at law firm FPS in Duesseldorf. At first glance, this means that the planned merger could go through. “But of course, this does not apply if the acquiring EU company is controlled from outside the EU.” This would trigger screening obligations.
The sector of the companies involved is also a gray area. Were the companies in the defense sector, the case would generally be clear: The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) would have to take a very close look. Although robotics is mentioned in section 55 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance as a technology worthy of protection, it is listed under 27 other items. The next steps now largely depend on the discretion of the officials at the BMWK.
Overall, Dreyer expects the takeover to be approved. The BMWK cannot do anything if it turns out that Agile Robots is not controlled by parties outside the EU – i.e., China. All in all, the anti-trust and foreign trade expert sees the Franka Emika case as more of a “storm in a teacup.”
However, Dreyer warns that the ministry’s decision-making behavior has so far been hard to predict. The current screening rules in the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance are very young, dating back to 2020 and 2021, and no legal practice has yet been established. The ministry’s actions are difficult to assess since it does not publicize its decisions.
So, the takeover attempt hinges on whether China controls the buyer Agile Robots or not. The company was spun off from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) institute in Wessling, Bavaria, in 2018. Researchers Chen Zhaopeng and Peter Meusel wanted to translate their expertise in robotics into practical applications. The focus was on software, even though the hardware of the robotic arms is also world-class.
So far, it was a purely German start-up. But Chen Zhaopeng is a Chinese national, and Agile Robots maintains a second company headquarters in Beijing. In addition to Japanese, Arab and German investors, Sequoia China and Xiaomi quickly joined as financial backers. With seven of the nine members having Chinese names (as of 2022), the supervisory board looks very Chinese.
However, the question remains whether a Chinese majority on the supervisory board means that a rival power controls the company. It could also be argued that Chinese stakeholders are relocating high-tech companies to Germany.
Another question is to what extent such a takeover would endanger the security of the Federal Republic of Germany. The insolvent takeover target Franka Emika quickly gained recognition thanks to its swift development of a comparatively new idea: the “cobot.” These robots work together with humans without safety barriers or boundaries and without endangering them. After all, while humans may move somewhat predictably, they do not follow clear rules. In other words, the software of a cobot is much better at interpreting humans than conventional robots.
While pioneering, Franka Emika’s technology is probably not crucial to Germany. The case was different with Kuka. Kuka not only has a treasure trove of valuable patents; the Augsburg-based company also supplies its robots primarily to the automotive industry. Robots have to be programmed for new products. As a result, Kuka knows the details of new car models before they are launched on the market.
So it was not just about acquiring Kuka’s own business secrets, but also about gaining access to data of Kuka’s industrial partners. Franka Emika does not have anywhere near this level of networking in the market.
There is also the question of whether foreign trade law’s purpose is more to prevent takeovers – or to benefit the economy. The, at times, months-long approval processes create uncertainty for the companies involved as it is and cost them the trust of their customers, says lawyer Dreyer.
Sinolytics is a European research-based consultancy entirely focused on China. It advises European companies on their strategic orientation and specific business activities in the People’s Republic.
The future Argentinian President, Javier Milei, is distancing himself from China. According to his shadow foreign minister, he plans to cancel membership of the BRICS group. “We don’t understand what the benefit (of joining BRICS) is for Argentina at the moment,” Diana Mondino told the Russian news agency Sputnik, according to media reports.
Milei had already announced his rejection of BRICS during the election campaign. He campaigned for Argentina to be dollarized – the exact opposite of what BRICS aims for. The BRICS group, which currently includes China, India, Brazil, Russia and South Africa, seeks to make the global economy less dependent on the US dollar. It is even toying with the idea of creating its own currency.
With much fanfare, the BRICS group announced the admission of six new members in August, including Argentina. If Buenos Aires now backs out, the balance in the bloc will shift significantly towards Asia. Other candidates for membership are Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
Milei, who will take office on December 10, went even further during the election campaign. The right-wing populist politician said that he did not want to “do business with communist countries” and advocated breaking off relations with China in favor of ties with “the civilized side of the world.”
However, analysts do not expect any dramatic changes. China is too important for the country’s economy. Alongside Brazil, China is Argentina’s biggest trading partner; the monthly volume of goods traded is around one billion US dollars. Mondino also recently emphasized that there are no plans to break off diplomatic relations.
“But China is deeply rooted in the foundations of the local economy, which is why it is not easy to reduce levels of dependence. Pragmatism will prevail and, ultimately, the relationship with Beijing will end up being the same as it was in previous governments,” Francisco Urdinez from the Pontifical Catholic University in Chile told the South China Morning Post.
However, the rapprochement is unlikely to be pursued further for the time being. According to consultancy firm Dezan Shira, the two countries agreed a few months ago to settle bilateral trade in yuan rather than US dollars. What will become of this is now unclear.
The financial relationship between highly indebted Argentina and China is also close. Since 2008, Argentina has signed several loan agreements totaling billions of dollars, primarily with the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank. In August, China’s central bank agreed to currency swaps worth 1.7 billion US dollars in yuan so that Buenos Aires can fulfill payment obligations to the International Monetary Fund amounting to 2.7 billion US dollars. The Latin American Development Bank took over the remaining billion.
During the election campaign, Milei had also accused China of financing election ads for his rival, Finance Minister Sergio Massa, on YouTube. ck
Beijing is furious. All the threats made in the run-up to the election have not been effective. There was talk of escalation in the Taiwan Strait, even of a possible war if this “independence fanatic” was actually nominated. But that is precisely what happened.
On Monday, Hsiao Bi-khim was named number two of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the upcoming presidential election in Taiwan. As the DPP and Lai Ching-te are currently leading in all polls, Hsiao could soon become Taiwan’s new vice president.
Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was born in 1971 in Kōbe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. She has a Taiwanese father and an American mother. She spent her teenage years in Taiwan before moving to the United States to attend university. It was the beginning of a close relationship.
She initially graduated from Oberlin College in 1993 with a BA in East Asian Studies, followed two years later by a Master’s in Political Science at the renowned Columbia University. Hsiao also obtained dual citizenship – a US passport and a passport from the Republic of China (Taiwan).
She began her political career at the DPP as Director of the Department of International Affairs. After Taiwan’s first democratic change of government in 2000, she spent two years as an advisor and interpreter in the office of then-President Chen Shui-bian. When her dual citizenship became a political problem at that time, Hsiao renounced her US citizenship.
Even after Chen’s presidency, she remained loyal to the DPP. Since 2020, she has been working in her “second home” in the USA again. Many there call her Taiwan’s best ambassador. However, this position does not actually exist, as the United States – like most countries in the world – does not officially recognize Taiwan as an independent state. Hsiao’s official title in Washington is Economic and Cultural Representative of Taipei. And instead of an embassy, her office is known as the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO).
But that does not diminish Hsiao’s connections. The now 52-year-old is well-networked right up to the highest political level. It is said that she regularly speaks with high-ranking officials of the Biden administration. Hsiao also has excellent contacts with the leaders of both parties in Congress.
Observers praise Hsiao’s calm and reserved demeanor. China, on the other hand, sees Hsiao as a dangerous agitator. Beijing has already sanctioned Hsiao twice – including during Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last August. In response, Beijing imposed an entry ban on Hsiao and six other Taiwanese officials. The verbal vilification of Hsiao as an “independence fanatic” also dates back to that time.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Chinese State Council, also described Hsiao as “a pawn of the foreign anti-China forces” who was “pushing Taiwan compatriots into a dangerous abyss,” according to the state-run newspaper China Daily.
Hsiao herself remained unimpressed by the verbal attacks. She said it helped that Washington had developed an appreciation “for Taiwan as a democracy, as a force for good, and as a true partner of the United States.”
However, she once admitted in an interview that it was a tricky balancing act for her – as a representative of a country that does not officially exist and is threatened with military force by its powerful neighbor China. In an allusion to the term “wolf warrior” for China’s generation of highly robust diplomats, Hsiao described herself as a “cat warrior.” After all, “Cats can tread on tight ropes and, you know, balance themselves in very nimble and flexible ways,” Hsiao said.
Hsiao and Taiwan will urgently need these skills. On the one hand, they must secure US support for the small island going forward. On the other hand, China should not be challenged too much. President Xi Jinping repeatedly emphasized that Taiwan would definitely be united with the mainland in the future – peacefully, if possible, otherwise by force. Michael Radunski
The mask is back: Chinese health authorities have recently warned that respiratory diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, COVID-19 and the flu are on the rise again. So far, the situation is no different than in Europe. However, face masks are looser in China. Even in the fresh air, when strolling through a shopping street in Beijing, many take precautions again.
