TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) awarded the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon to American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk Wednesday (July 3) for her contributions to relations between Taiwan and the United States.
The U.S. representative will leave Taiwan this summer at the end of her three-year term. Her successor will be Raymond Greene, a diplomat now serving in Japan, but no date for his arrival in Taipei has been announced yet.
In his address at the Presidential Office, Lai said Oudkirk had achieved all aims she had set herself at the start of her term, Radio Taiwan International (RTI) reported. She had succeeded in helping Taiwan improve its defense capabilities, as the Biden administration had approved 15 weapons deals and devoted government funding to Taiwan’s defense, the president said.
On the trade front, Taiwan and the U.S. signed the first phase of the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative for 21st Century Trade and were discussing the second phase. The U.S. was also assisting Taiwan with its efforts to join the international community, while relations between Taipei and Washington had improved to their best level, Lai said.
Oudkirk described the rock-solid relationship during the past three years as the most unimaginable achievement of her 30-year diplomatic career. Even though the world was changing, the Taiwan-U.S. ties would continue to flourish as they were based on a bipartisan consensus about the shared values of democracy, openness, and freedom, she said.
