Taipei City Government

On the afternoon of March 19, Taipei Mayor Ko We-je visited the United States Department of State, where he met behind closed doors with Hanscom Smith, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Asia Pacific Affairs, John J. Norris Jr., Managing Director of the Washington Office of the American Institute in Taiwan, and Daniel K. Delk, Deputy Director of the State Department's Office of Taiwan Coordination.
 
In the evening of the same day, Mayor Ko attended a welcoming reception held in his honor at the Twin Oaks Estate, the home of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.
 
During his speech, Mayor Ko expressed his appreciation and gratitude to Representative Stanley Kao and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office for their assistance to his trip, mentioning that this was his second visit to Washington D.C. since 2013.
 
Ko said that the slogan of the Taipei 2017 Universiade was “Let Taiwan Walk Out, Let the World Walk in, Let the World See Taiwan.” This trip, with visits to and direct communications with US government departments and think tanks, reaffirms that the US is Taiwan’s most important ally, and both nations share such universal values as democracy and freedom, diversity and openness. The governments and people of the United States and Taiwan all firmly believe in those values, which is why the United States and Taiwan are advancing firmly together.
 
The mayor expressed his belief that more exchange and communication will benefit the stability of the cooperation between both sides, emphasizing that the shared values further contribute to their stable cooperation. Mayor Ko wound up his speech by once again thanking the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States for its generous assistance.
 
After his visit to the State Department, Mayor Ko gave a group interview to the media, where a reporter asked what had been discussed in the meeting at the State Department. Ko smiled at the reporter: “Of course I’m not going to tell you! What’s spoken inside someone’s home cannot be repeated outside. At any rate, the US is Taiwan’s most important friend. This is the most important thing,” he said.