Xiao Meiqin, "Taiwan Independence" at the Beginning: Like "The Spokesperson for US Interests"

Source: Global Times

After US House speaker Pelosi stepped onto the stage, the mainland adopted a series of countermeasures. On the morning of 4 July, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China named Xiao Meiqin, Taipei's representative to the United States, attacked her for frequently spreading the theory of "independence," and vigorously instigated US politicians to go to Taiwan and vigorously promoted the purchase of US troops.

Sold for Pelosi's channel

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on the 4th that Xiao Meiqin has recently vigorously pushed Pelosi to channel Taiwan, openly provoking the one-China principle, seriously undermining cross-strait relations, and further aggravating the tension and turmoil in the Taiwan Strait. In order to seek political self-interest, Xiao did not hesitate to act as a pawn of external anti-China forces, harming the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation and pushing the Taiwan compatriots into a dangerous abyss. In conclusion, he said that anyone who betrays national interests and engages in "Taiwan independence" separatism will never have a good end and will certainly be liquidated by history.

This accusation made by the mainland is absolutely targeted. According to Taiwan's "China Times" disclosed on the 2nd, a person familiar with the matter revealed that the DPP authorities are very aware that the Taiwan Strait crisis that Pelosi's trip will trigger is no less than that of 1996, so after the media exposed pelosi's possible sneaking into Taiwan on July 18, the Taiwan authorities secretly withdrew their invitation to visit her. On July 20, Pelosi called Taipei's representative in the United States, Xiao Meiqin, claiming that she had planned to lead the delegation to Taiwan on August 3, but she was informed that Taiwan was inclined to withdraw the invitation and that she had to know the truth personally. As a result, Xiao Meiqin replied that there was no withdrawal of the invitation, which may be a gap in information transmission. She also incited that if Pelosi assesses that early August is the best time to visit Taiwan, Taiwan will certainly welcome it. Immediately after July 22, Campbell, the Indo-Pacific coordinator of the US White House National Security Council, said on the phone with Xiao Meiqin that the White House had explained to Pelosi the risks of visiting Taiwan for several days in mid-to-late July and hoped to change the plan. The meaning of the US government could not be clearer, but Xiao Meiqin was "unmoved."

Some Taiwan netizens broke the news that Pelosi was invited by the DPP authorities at a high price, and Xiao Meiqin sold a lot of energy. From February 2018 to April this year, The Taiwanese side contacted Pelosi 16 times through the public relations firm of former US Congressman Gehatt, spending nearly $3.15 million, including 8 liaisons with the representative office in the United States, 5 contacts with Taiwan's "Ministry of Economy" and 3 times with the Democratic Progressive Party.

Tsai Ing-wen's girlfriend

So, who is Xiao Meiqin, and what has she done in the United States over the years?

Xiao Meiqin was born in August 1971 in Japan to a Taiwanese father and an American mother, graduating with a master's degree from Columbia University in the United States. She was excavated by Annette Lu and returned to Taiwan to join the Dpp under the aura of an "American turtle," and was immediately appreciated and reused by Chen Shui-bian. In 1995, at the age of 24, Xiao Meiqin became the executive director of the DPP representative office in the United States, and in 1997, she was promoted to director of the DPP's international affairs department. Jumping to a high position at such a young age obviously has a lot to do with her "American" status. It was not until January 2002 that Xiao Meiqin renounced her American citizenship.

In November 2000, Taiwan's "New News" reported that Annette Lu informed the Taiwan media about the "Presidential Palace" scandal, implying that Chen Shui-bian and Xiao Meiqin had an ambiguous relationship. This incident caused an uproar in the island's political arena. After that, Xiao Meiqin ran for the Hualien "Legislator" several times, and lost to Fu Kunxuan, who was known as the "King of Hualien" in January 2020. In June of the same year, Tsai Ing-wen announced the appointment of Xiao Meiqin as her representative to the United States, and in September Xiao Meiqin added the title of "Taiwan's ambassador to the United States" to her Twitter account, but the Taiwan authorities had no "diplomatic relations" with the United States, which was completely self-appointed.

As for Xiao Meiqin's becoming a representative in the United States, it is reportedly related to Tsai Ing-wen. There are many sources on the island that the two are private girlfriends, and even the cats raised by Tsai Ing-wen's family are brought from Xiao Meiqin. As early as 2008, when Tsai Ing-wen was chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, Xiao Meiqin served as her special assistant. Since 2010, in order to help the DPP pry the KMT's "iron ticket area" Hualien County, Xiao Meiqin has been planning here for 6 years and finally defeating the KMT candidate. When Tsai Ing-wen first ran, during her visit to the United States in 2011, she threw out the so-called "Taiwan Consensus", and as a result, she had not left the United States, and the cross-strait policy was denied by the United States.

During Lai Qingde's trip to the United States in February 2020, the original Taiwan "diplomatic" system did not know about this matter at all, and Tsai Ing-wen urgently sent Xiao Meiqin to accompany Lai to the United States, one is to assist, but more importantly, to "supervise the army". According to the analysis on the island, Zhao Yixiang, head of the political group of the representative office in the United States, known as the "Little Ying Boy," should have been sent to assist Xiao Meiqin, and even "Foreign Minister" Wu Zhaoxie was also in the rear to help Xiao "press the front." This shows that Tsai Ing-wen relies heavily on Xiao Meiqin.

At the same time, Taipei's representative to the United States was not unilaterally decided by the Taiwan authorities and must be accepted by the United States. Tang Shaocheng, a researcher at the Center for International Relations Studies at Taiwan Chengchi University, said that Xiao Meiqin can not only reach Tsai Ing-wen, but also use her half-American identity to become friends with Trump's daughter Ivanka, which are beyond the reach of traditional "diplomats". However, this is a matter of safety or danger for Taiwan, and it is no longer the consideration of the Green Camp.

Provide the Taiwan authorities with materials for "great internal propaganda."

In the two years since she became a representative to the United States, Xiao Meiqin's various behaviors seem to be not working for the interests of the Taiwan people, but only pleasing the United States. Ma Xiaoguang commented on Xiao Meiqin last year, saying that everyone felt as if she was "a spokesperson for the interests of Americans."

In fact, when Xiao Meiqin first took office, she encountered the embarrassment of the DPP authorities betting on Trump's failure. She can only post on Facebook that she has been interacting with friends of the Democratic and Republican parties for more than 20 years, and there are many friends in both parties who support Taiwan, "no matter what the election results are, it is a demonstration of the democratic will of the United States."

In the past two years, Xiao Meiqin has provided Tsai Ing-wen with the so-called "Great Internal Propaganda" material in the United States from the following aspects. The first is to co-opt some people to channel the stage and create a so-called "international momentum." In March, former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo visited Taiwan. Some media disclosed that Taipei's representative office in the United States signed a contract with an American political public relations company to invite Pompeo to Taiwan with a 150,000-dollar honorarium. In June, Xiao Meiqin met with NBA star Kante, who is quite "Taiwan independence", and had dinner.

The second is to defend the United States. In August 2020, Tsai Ing-wen announced that based on the overall economic and trade layout, she agreed to allow American pork (Lai pig) containing clenbuterol to enter Taiwan, which caused great controversy on the island. Xiao Meiqin immediately echoed, "Taiwan has the will to connect with determination and international standards." On the eve of the "four major referendums" on the island in December last year, the Taipei representative office in the United States released a video of "Eat lai pig with peace of mind", and Xiao Meiqin called on the public to oppose the "anti-Lai pig referendum". In June last year, Taiwan and the United States held the TIFA Dialogue. Xiao Meiqin defended the United States, saying that if Taiwan wants to seek to start negotiations on a trade agreement between the two sides, it has to consider the perspective of concern of the Us side in order to have a breakthrough. Li Guimin, a "legislator" of the Kuomintang, said that Xiao Meiqin should not only reflect the opinions of the US side, but should also reflect the public opinion in Taiwan in the past, so that she can be competent.

Third, Xiao Meiqin used various occasions to highlight the so-called Taiwan-US relations as "rock solid." At Biden's inauguration ceremony in early 2021, Xiao Meiqin showed off on the Internet how she was invited, and the DPP boasted at the time that this was the first time that taiwan and the United States had been invited to attend the inauguration ceremony of the US president. Zhu Songling, director of the Institute of Cross-Strait Relations at Beijing Union University, explained in an interview with the Global Times at that time that ceremony tickets can be bought, ranging from more than 700 US dollars to more than 9,000 US dollars, as long as there is money, they can get it. In May this year, the United States released the list of "Indo-Pacific Economic Framework" regions, and although Xiao Meiqin has been deliberately trying to join, Taiwan has not yet been included.

Named separately by the mainland

Xiao Meiqin's actions in the United States have been criticized by the mainland many times. When she met with U.S. State Department officials last October, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council warned the DPP authorities that attempting to collude with external forces to seek "independence" provocations would only bring disaster to Taiwan.

In March this year, the Washington Post published An article by Xiao Meiqin entitled "Ukraine's Enlightenment to Taiwan." The Chinese Embassy in the United States immediately responded solemnly, saying that the Taiwan issue is fundamentally different from the Ukrainian issue, and that the so-called mainland "threat" to Taiwan is simply unreasonable. "Compatriots on both sides of the strait are Chinese and have a family affection that blood is thicker than water. At present, millions of Taiwan compatriots live and work in peace and contentment on the mainland, why should families threaten each other? As Taiwan's largest export market and the largest source of trade surplus, the mainland can only bring tangible benefits and well-being to Taiwan compatriots. ”

Some Taiwan media have called Wu Zhaoxie, Xiao Meiqin, and others "obsessive-American factions," saying that these people are trying to use Taiwan-US relations to break through the "shackles of cross-strait relations" and that they think they know the United States very well. As a result, so far the United States has not given taiwan any substantial feedback, and arms sales to Taiwan are nothing more than fattening up the US military-industrial complex, but they have greatly increased the risks in the Taiwan Strait, "Once a crisis really occurs between the two sides of the strait and the United States abandons Taiwan again, Taiwan will find it more difficult to extricate itself and will lose more capital and space that could have been discussed." The United News Network said on 4 July that the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council had publicly named Wu Zhaoxie, Taiwan 'Executive Yuan' Su Zhenchang, and "Legislative Yuan" You Xikun, and included them in the "list of Taiwan independence diehards." This time, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council named Xiao Meiqin alone, and the further sanctions against her are also worthy of attention.