Raymond Greene, the new Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) who began his tenure in July, visited the Tainan City Mayor today (Aug. 7) with four AIT officials, including Neil Gibson, Director of the American Institute in Taiwan Kaohsiung Branch Office (AITK). This is Director Greene’s first trip to Tainan and his first time visiting a city other than Taipei since taking office. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che, along with Deputy Mayor Chao Ching-hui, Deputy Mayor Yeh Tse-shan, and Director-General Su En-en of the Department of Information and International Relations, welcomed their old friend back to Taiwan and gifted him a Tainan orchid with the US flag painted on and orchid porcelain plates. During the meeting, both parties discussed the blueprint for Taiwan and US collaborations over the next three years.
Mayor Huang Wei-che remarked that Greene said his relationship with Taiwan did not end there when was posted to Japan three years ago, and today’s meeting proves that Greene indeed has a strong bond with Taiwan. The Mayor went on to mention that this year marks Tainan 400 in the city which has a significant role in the high-tech industry development. He also pointed out that the Tainan City Government is actively strengthening interactions with the US through city diplomacy, for example, establishing more signatory city relationships with US cities and attracting American enterprises to invest in Taiwan. Huang is eager to fully develop bilateral exchanges and looks forward to cooperating with the AIT team led by Director Greene to deepen the ties between Taiwan and the US.
Mayor Huang and Director Greene highlighted the deep friendship between the citizens of Taiwan and the US and look forward to having closer collaborations in the future.
Raymond Greene is a veteran US diplomat with almost three decades of experience. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Japanese and has been assigned to several Asian-Pacific countries, including Japan and the Philippines. Greene was the Deputy Chief of Mission in Tokyo, Japan before assuming office in Taiwan. This is Director Greene’s third posting in Taiwan, having last served as AIT Deputy Director from 2018 to 2021 and Deputy Chief of the Political Section at AIT Taipei from 2002 to 2005.