CANCELED: Taiwan-US Relations: A Winning Formula for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific

It is with great regret that ACIR informs you that the luncheon with Ambassador Stanley Kao, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative to the United States scheduled for Monday, March 16 has been canceled.

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Following the President Trump’s address yesterday and in consultation with the representatives of the Republic of China (Taiwan), they have decided it prudent to cancel the program. They hope you will understand that the situation has reached a point where there is serious concern that a single infected person at the program might endanger the health of all others and, as a minimum, those attending might be placed in quarantine, greatly affecting their daily lives.

About Ambassador Kao

After graduating from National Chengchi University, Kao began working for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1980. He was sent to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Honolulu, Hawaii and later assigned to TECRO in Atlanta, Georgia in 1993. Kao then became an advisor to TECRO in Malaysia. From 1996 to 1997, he was a fellow at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs. By 2000, Kao had become the deputy director general of MOFA’s North American Affairs department. He was promoted to director general of that division the following year.

In 2002, he was appointed deputy representative of the Republic of China (ROC) to the World Trade Organization. Kao then served as the deputy representative to the United States beginning in 2004. He was named representative to Hungary in November 2007 and took office on 1 February 2008. After his stint in Hungary, Kao was appointed the ROC representative to Italy in 2013. On 23 May 2016, he was appointed as the ROC representative to the United States. Kao made his first official trip to the United States on 5 June, prior to a swearing-in ceremony held on 2 August 2016.