Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

On the morning of October 24, President Tsai Ing-wen conferred the Order of Brilliant Star with Cravat upon Gregory K. S. Man, former Director of the Political & Military Affairs at the Washington Headquarters of the American Institute in Taiwan, in recognition of his outstanding contributions over many years to relations between Taiwan and the United States.

After receiving his decoration, Mr. Man said it was a tremendous honor to be singled out for conferral of the Order of Brilliant Star with Cravat. For the past 15 years, he said, many people have worked together to build a solid foundation for Taiwan-US security cooperation, and this decoration recognizes the tremendous joint efforts made by the people of the US and Taiwan to maintain regional peace and defend Taiwan's democratic way of life.

Mr. Man mentioned that many of President Tsai's initiatives, such as plans to establish a "Taiwan DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency)" in order to enhance national defense production capacity and rebuild the dignity of military personnel, are actually very similar to the national defense policies adopted by the US since the conclusion of the Vietnam War. For the US, such policies entailed vast expenditures and required drastic changes to its military culture and leadership style, but the policies have been critically important to the ability of the US to develop the world's most powerful military force.

Noting that Taiwan has potent innovation capabilities and a highly creative younger generation, Mr. Man expressed confidence that Taiwan could defend its valuable societal culture, rule of law, and democratic values.

Looking ahead, Mr. Man said, he hopes that Taiwan and the US can continue to cooperate, adopt a viable defense strategy, identify Taiwan's top defense priorities, and obtain the support of the people of Taiwan for continued defense of the Taiwan society.

Among those present at the ceremony were National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General York Chen (陳文政), Deputy Secretary-General to the President Yao Jen-to (姚人多), Military Strategy Advisor Lin Jan-yi (林鎮夷), Minister of Foreign Affairs David T. Lee (李大維), and Mr. Man's wife, Shirley Kan (簡淑賢).