Ms. Bi-khim Hsiao
Legislator

Bi-khim Hsiao

Bi-khim Hsiao, a member of Taiwan 's Legislative Yuan, has been active in Taiwan politics for over a decade. Having lived and studied abroad, Hsiao began her political career with deep involvement in the international affairs of the Democratic Progressive Party. She was involved in President Chen Shui-bian's 2000 and 2004 election campaigns as a spokesperson and international affairs director, became Advisor to President Chen in 2000, and was first elected to the legislature in December, 2001.

As a member of the Foreign Relations Committee since her tenure in the 5th Legislature, Ms. Hsiao has been regarded as a strong and respected diplomat by her colleagues in the Legislative Yuan and by the foreign diplomatic community. She has been an effective spokesperson on Taiwan issues for the international media, think tanks, and foreign governmental visitors to Taiwan . She has been active in establishing parliamentary exchanges and friendships with other countries, and as the Director for the governing party's Department of International Affairs, she has also taken leadership roles in international political party organizations that share the DPP values of democracy. She is the Secretary General of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats and Vice President of Liberal Internationa l.

Besides international affairs, Ms. Hsiao has placed great emphasis on human rights and gender equality issues. Not only is she concerned about promoting the participation of more women in politics, she has also been outspoken on issues such as immigrant rights, domestic violence, privacy rights, gay rights, and human trafficking.

In addition, Ms. Hsiao is a big baseball fan and a strong promoter of women's participation in sports. She is currently President of the Taiwan Women's Baseball Association, presiding over the first national women's baseball tournaments in Taiwan . She realizes that women's participation in sports and related activities have not received enough attention in Taiwan by government, media, and the general public. In April 2005, she established The Taiwan Association for Women in Sports (TAWS) , the first non-governmental organization in Taiwan specializing in women's rights in sports. Its mission is to promote Taiwanese women and girls' participation at all levels of sport and physical activities by eliminating gender discrimination in the distribution of public and private resources for sports, and by establishing global links and cooperation with other international sports organizations.

As part of her commitment to promote the welfare of the people who make up the 1st Electoral District (Shih-lin, Bei-tou, Sung-shan, Hsin-yi, Nei-hu, Nan-gang) of Taipei City , Ms. Hsiao has expanded her constituent service team to fifteen people and has set up constituent service offices in Shih-Lin, Hsin-Yi and Nei-hu.