At the Presidential Office Building on the afternoon of December 15, President Ma Ying-jeou conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon upon Dr. Evan Medeiros, the former senior director for Asian affairs at the US White House's National Security Council (NSC) and current Managing Director and Practice Head for Asia at the Eurasia Group, in recognition of his outstanding contributions over many years to Taiwan-US relations.
Dr. Medeiros said it was a great honor to receive such a special distinction, and recalled that when he first came to Taiwan as a graduate student he was deeply impressed by the open and kind nature of the people here. Dr. Medeiros was once the director for Taiwan, China, and Mongolia affairs at the NSC before becoming a special assistant to President Barack Obama, and NSC senior director for Asian affairs. These positions, he said, were all very challenging for him, and he benefitted a lot from the experience. During his time at the NSC, the US role in Asia underwent a big change, said Dr. Medeiros, who added that President Obama is firmly convinced that the US can play a more important role in Asia.
Commenting on Taiwan-US relations, Dr. Medeiros pointed out that there has been significant progress in bilateral ties in recent years, with major successes on many different fronts. Looking back from today's late-2015 vantage point, he stated, the state of Taiwan-US ties in 2009 appeared much like the condition of a patient recovering from surgery; both sides needed to take strong action to restore positive interactions and relationships. A spirit of mutual trust and respect between Taiwan and the US, said Dr. Medeiros, "is as important to bilateral ties as oxygen."
Dr. Medeiros stressed that senior leaders in both Taiwan and the US are taking a "low key, no surprises" approach as they work to develop close relations, and communications are closer than they were in the past. Taiwan has reached consensus with the two major political parties in the US, achieving many important successes. And even as Taiwan-US relations grow deeper, we are also seeing significant progress in cross-strait ties and the relationship between the US and mainland China. "For all three sides," he said, "this represents an unprecedented historic success." Dr. Medeiros also thanked President Ma for his hard work and vision in this arena, and expressed hope that Taiwan and the US can continue working together to maintain a lasting friendship.
Others attending the event included Senior Advisor to the President Jason C. Yuan (袁健生), Secretary-General to the President Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權), ROC's National Security Council Advisor Andrew N.D. Yang (楊念祖), ROC's National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Andrew Jen-Chuan Kao (高振群), Director Nicholas Consonery of Eurasia Group's Asia practice, and American Institute in Taiwan Taipei Office Director Kin W. Moy.