May 7, 2015
No. 088
The ROC government welcomes the appointment of Mr. Kin W. Moy as Director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which was officially announced by the AIT in Washington, DC, on May 6.
From July 2011 to July 2014, Kin Moy served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, overseeing US relations with mainland China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. In this role, Mr. Moy took part in the formulation and implementation of the US State Department’s Asia-Pacific policy, and is therefore intimately familiar with Taiwan-US relations.
Since entering the State Department in 1992, Mr. Moy has gained extensive experience, with assignments to Beijing in mainland China, as well as Seoul and Busan in the Republic of Korea. While serving as Deputy Executive Secretary in the Office of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from 2009 to June 2011, he participated in the Obama administration’s decision-making process concerning the rebalancing to Asia policy. Mr. Moy has been closely involved in US foreign policy as a whole, and has been one of the main officials in the US government responsible for Asia-Pacific affairs.
During his time as Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, he was the senior official in charge of promoting Taiwan-US relations. He took part in consultations on and the signing of the new Agreement on Privileges, Exemptions, and Immunities, and made important contributions to such policy initiatives as deepening economic and trade ties between Taiwan and the US, strengthening security cooperation, and expanding Taiwan’s international participation. At numerous public Congressional hearings, Mr. Moy spoke on behalf of the US government in support of Taiwan, welcoming Taiwan’s interest in joining the Trans-Pacific Partnership, commending the positive developments in cross-strait relations over the past few years, and backing Taiwan’s involvement in the World Health Assembly as an observer and the Assembly of the International Civil Aviation Organization as a guest. Most importantly, on many occasions, Mr. Moy has reiterated that the US, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, “is to make available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability.”
Mr. Moy has an in-depth understanding of the various aspects of the Taiwan-US partnership, Taiwan’s policies and positions, the current state of cross-strait relations, as well as developments in the region. As such, his appointment concretely shows that Taiwan is a key component of US Asia-Pacific policies, as emphasized by Secretary of State John Kerry, and demonstrates the great importance attached to Taiwan-US relations by the US government. The ROC government looks forward to working with Mr. Moy in his new capacity, and is confident that, based on the excellent foundation laid by his predecessor Christopher J. Marut, as well as joint bilateral efforts, relations between Taiwan and the US will continue to go from strength to strength. (E)