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On the afternoon of March 30 local time (early morning of March 31 Taipei time), President Tsai Ing-wen, on transit through the United States, met the Taiwan allies' permanent representatives to the United Nations (UN) at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York, and interacted with Taiwanese-American Liya Chu (朱如茵), the winner of MasterChef Junior (American season 8), and A ee mi (張雅晴) and Saitemiss (鍾逸婷), two Taiwanese illustrators who will participate in the 2023 MoCCA Arts Fest.
In remarks, President Tsai expressed her honor at meeting the representatives and reaffirmed our commitment to deepening these valued friendships. She thanked our diplomatic allies for speaking up for Taiwan at several international venues, and added that the people and government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) truly appreciate their continued support as we work to expand our international participation.
President Tsai said that while we look forward to continuing our cooperation, we will also surely meet many challenges in the future, but expressed that she is confident that standing united behind our values, we can achieve our goals. She ended her remarks with a toast to shared growth and prosperity and to strengthening our friendships and future together.
During the event, young chef Liya presented the president with a desert of sweet glass rice dumplings (the term in Mandarin being homophonous with "fortunate connections") arranged in the shape of Taiwan, along with a flower arrangement that spelled out "team Taiwan" (the phrase in Mandarin being homophonous with "support Taiwan").
Illustrators A ee mi and Saitemiss presented to the president some of the works they will display at the MoCCA Arts Fest, including the comic book Platonic Love by A ee mi that depicts the free and open atmosphere of today's Taiwanese society, and the works of Saitemiss that often portray themes of romantic love in soft pastel colors, while mixing Eastern forms with Western sentiments. By taking part in the arts festival, these two illustrators hope to show people in the US the creativity of girls from Taiwan.
Also in attendance at the event were Representatives and Permanent Representatives to the UN of the Marshall Islands and other countries, and American Institute in Taiwan Chairperson Laura Rosenberger.
