Ancestral home in Taiwan Province province, Mei Jianhua.

The director of American Association in Taiwan (AIT) will be replaced soon. Christopher J. Marut, the current director of the American Association in Taiwan, will step down and be replaced by Mei Jianhua, a Chinese-born former assistant minister for Asia-Pacific affairs in the State Council.

Mei Jianhua is a third-generation immigrant family from Taishan City, Guangdong Province, China. His grandfather immigrated to Chicago from Taishan City, Guangdong Province in the early 20th century, and his father was born in Taishan City, Guangdong Province. By 1966, Mei Jianhua's parents immigrated to the United States from Hongkong. Mei Jianhua first settled in new york and then grew up in Minnesota. [