President Lai confers medal on outgoing U.S. envoy Oudkirk

Taipei, July 3 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Wednesday conferred a presidential medal on de facto United States ambassador Sandra Oudkirk, who is departing Taiwan after three years of service, in recognition of her contribution to promoting relations between the U.S. and Taiwan.

Oudkirk, who assumed the role of director of the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) Taipei office in July 2021, was presented with the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon by Lai at the Presidential Office.

The AIT director has "spared no effort in helping Taiwan" during her three-year term, the president said at the conferring ceremony.

He highlighted Oudkirk's efforts to further promote economic and people-to-people ties between Taiwan and the U.S. and support for Taiwan in boosting its self-defense capabilities and striving for greater international space.

Describing current bilateral ties as the "best" ever, Lai thanked the outgoing director, whose term ends in a week, for her contribution to promoting Taiwan-U.S. relations and expressed hope that she would continue to support Taiwan.

In her remarks, Oudkirk said she is honored to receive the medal at the end of her tenure as AIT director, a position she characterized as "a professional dream-come-true."

She said U.S. support for Taiwan had "remained strong, principled and bipartisan" despite the constantly changing world and the volatile global landscape.

"Our relationship is built on values such as freedom, openness, and democracy," she said, adding that she is optimistic about the future of the bilateral relationship going forward.

AIT represents Washington's interests in Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two sides.