Hsiao Bi khim

Early life and education

Hsiao was born in Kobe, Japan, to a Taiwanese father and American mother. Raised in Tainan, Taiwan, she grew up speaking Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English. After moving to the United States during her high school years, Hsiao completed her undergraduate studies at Oberlin College, receiving a bachelor's degree in East Asian studies. She continued on to graduate school at Columbia University, where she received her master's degree in political science.

Political career

In the United States, Hsiao became active with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) representative office in the US serving as an activity coordinator. Upon returning to Taiwan, Hsiao became the party's international affairs director and represented the party in several international conferences for over a decade.

After Chen Shui-bian took office as the President of the Republic of China in 2000, Hsiao served as his interpreter and advisor for nearly two years. Her dual US and Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship while she was holding a government position became a political issue, and she renounced her US citizenship, as required by the Civil Servants Employment Law passed in 2000.

Legislative career

In January 2001, Hsiao announced her intention to run for the Legislative Yuan on the DPP ticket as a supplementary member representing overseas constituencies, citing her experience in international relations. She was subsequently elected in December the same year.

In the legislative elections of December 2004, Hsiao was reelected to the Legislative Yuan representing Taipei City's 1st Constituency, covering the northern districts of Xinyi, Songshan, Nangang, Neihu, Shilin, and Beitou. As a legislator, she served on the Foreign and Overseas Affairs Committee (外交及僑務委員會), the Procedure Committee (程序委員會), and the Discipline Committee (紀律委員會).

Hsiao worked on a number of issues in the legislature, notably women's rights, the rights of foreigners in Taiwan, and other human rights. Hsiao supported amending the Nationality Law to allow individuals born to at least one parent of ROC nationality to also claim ROC nationality irrespective of age, and has also proposed and cosponsored anti-discrimination and anti-domestic violence amendments to the Immigration Act. She has also been a proponent of animal rights, proposing amendments to the Animal Protection Act, and also pushed for the passage of the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act in January 2005.

In May 2005, Hsiao represented the DPP at the annual congress of Liberal International in Sofia, Bulgaria, during which she was elected as a vice-president of the organization. Hsiao alleged that she and other DPP representatives were followed throughout their visit to Bulgaria by two unidentified persons sent by the People's Republic of China embassy in Sofia.

The same month, Hsiao also started a campaign to encourage Taiwanese baseball fans to write e-mails to the New York Yankees to request for them to keep Taiwanese pitcher Chien-Ming Wang at the major league level. The move led to some domestic criticism as being embarrassing and unnecessary.

Hsiao was one of the DPP lawmakers targeted by some party supporters as being insufficiently loyal, with a pro-independence radio show dubbing her as "Chinese Khim" (中國琴) in March 2007, charging that she was close to the DPP's former New Tide faction. Sefended by some other DPP members, Hsiao was still not nominated to stand for re-election by the DPP in the January 2008 legislative elections, a move some attributed to be the result of that controversy.

Hsiao left the Legislative Yuan after her term expired on January 31, 2008. She served as spokesperson for Frank Hsieh's unsuccessful 2008 presidential campaign. She is also vice chairman of the Taiwan Tibet Exchange Foundation, a member of the board of trustees of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, a member of the executive committee of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, and a founding member of the Taiwan Association for Women in Sport (台灣女子體育運動協會).

In 2012, she once again joined the Legislative Yuan as a representative of the DPP, as a Legislator at Large, beginning her service in the 8th LY on February 1, 2012.

In the historic January 2016 election, in which the DPP gained a solid majority as well as the presidency, Hsiao was elected as the representative for Hualien to the LY and took office on February 1, 2016.

Personal life

Her father, Hsiao Tsing-fen, is a former president of the Tainan Theological College and Seminary.

In November 2000, The Journalist, a local tabloid magazine, wrongly claimed to have been told by Vice President Annette Lu that Hsiao was having an affair with President Chen. No evidence supported the tale, and Lu sued the magazine for libel in civil court. The magazine was eventually ordered to apologize and issue corrections admitting it had fabricated the story.

During her political career, Hsiao and fellow legislators Cheng Li-chun and Chiu Yi-ying gained the nickname "the S.H.E of the DPP."