AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk and AIT Kaohsiung Office Branch Chief Thomas Wong visited Tainan City Government on June 2. The guests were welcomed by Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che and Department of Information and International Relations Director-General Su En-en. Both sides engaged in lively discussions about economic and trade interactions between the US and Taiwan, international relations, and sustainable environmental actions.
Mayor Huang expressed that Taiwan and the US share the same democratic views and values and are significant partners in trade, regional security, and democracy. Huang also thanked the representatives of the US and other countries that are friendly to Taiwan for their open support of Taiwan’s participation in international events at the World Health Assembly (WHA) last month and said he is very honored to be invited by AIT to sign the Global Declaration of Mayors for Democracy and join hands with global partners to defend democracy and fight against the threat of authoritarian countries.
Moreover, the Mayor mentioned that an agreement has been signed after completing the first phase of negotiations for the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade and he is happy to see Taiwan-US economic and trade relations reach a new milestone. Huang remarked that freedom is the most important essence of democracy and hopes that Taiwan and the US can enjoy freer trading of agricultural and high-tech products in the future.
Expressing that Tainan’s orchids and the Director share the same elegance, Mayor Huang gifted a pressed orchid plate and a silk scarf to Director Oudkirk. He also offered Tainan 400 event souvenirs and invited the US officials to participate in the 2024 Tainan 400 activities to experience the city’s special historical moment.
Director Sandra Oudkirk assumed office as Director of the American Institute in Taiwan in 2021. This is not her first post to Taiwan, as she served at the Institute’s Taipei office in 1992. She also visited Tainan during that time. Oudkirk’s previous overseas assignments include posts in Turkey, Ireland, and China, and as a U.S. Senior Official for APEC.