Taipei, July 14 (CNA) Kin Moy, the United States' de facto ambassador to Taiwan for the past three years, left a final farewell message to Taiwan on Facebook before heading back to the U.S. with his family on Saturday.
Despite being unable to be interviewed just prior to leaving Taiwan, Moy narrated a video that showed images of him and his family making their way to the airport and photos and videos of Moy's life in the country for the last three years.
In the video, Moy said, "Time goes by so quickly. I have been in Taiwan for three years already and now I am returning to the U.S. with my family."
He recalled saying when he first came to Taiwan that the coming years would be a crucial period for U.S.-Taiwan relations. Now, Moy said, he was proud of how much has been achieved through the efforts of the American and Taiwanese people.
During an interview with CNA earlier in July, Moy named the American Institute in Taiwan's new compound in Neihu as the No. 1 highlight of his three-year tenure in Taipei, describing it is a concrete symbol of the U.S.'s long-term commitment to Taiwan.
It showed "we are going to be here for a long time," he said at the time.
Moy, 52, arrived in Taiwan in June 2015 and was the first AIT director of Asian heritage.
He has traveled across the country and has also used Facebook to reach out to Taiwanese as the number of people following AIT's Facebook page has skyrocketed from around 30,000 to over 97,000 during his term.
Moy's position will be filled in late August by Brent Christensen, a former AIT deputy director and a seasoned diplomat with extensive experience in the region.
