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Staunch US friend of
Taiwan to leave Washington politics
By William Lowther / Staff Reporter in Washington
US Representative Gary Ackerman, one of Taiwanˇ¦s best friends on Capitol Hill,
has announced that he will not seek re-election.
A member of the US Congress for 30 years, he was a founder member of the Taiwan
Caucus and cosponsored multiple pieces of Taiwan-related legislation.
ˇ§He will be sorely missed,ˇ¨ said Coen Blaauw, an official with the Formosan
Association for Public Affairs (FAPA).
Blaauw added: ˇ§As a senior member of the [US] House Foreign Affairs Committee he
has been a strong and outspoken voice of support for full democracy and
sovereignty for the people of Taiwan.ˇ¨
Ackerman, 69, a Democrat, has a reputation for being particularly close to the
large Asian population in his district of Queens and Long Island, New York.
Analysts said that he would easily have been re-elected for a 16th term if had
decided to run again.
The New York Times said Ackermanˇ¦s decision not to run was unexpected and
ˇ§baffledˇ¨ his colleagues.
In a statement he said only that he remained passionate about the causes he
supported and that he would continue to be aggressively involved in many local
and global issues as a private citizen.
Privately, he has said that he will be doing something ˇ§just as challenging and
fulfilling as Congress.ˇ¨
However, he has not revealed details of future plans.
Under Congressional rules, Ackerman will not actually leave office until the end
of this year.
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