Karin M. Lang has begun her tenure as Deputy Director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), taking up the post in Taipei on August 8, 2025. Lang is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and holds the rank of Minister-Counselor.
Lang brings over three decades of experience to AIT. Her recent positions include Coordinator for Cuban Affairs at the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs from 2022 to 2024, and Minister-Counselor for Consular Affairs and Consul General at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo between 2019 and 2022. She has also held domestic roles such as Director of the Office of Policy Coordination and Public Affairs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs from 2017 to 2019, and Director of the Executive Secretariat Staff in the Office of the Secretary of State from 2015 to 2017.
Her overseas assignments have included posts in Havana, Bangkok, Taipei, Guangzhou, and Mexico City. In addition to consular work, she has served in several policy positions within the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Reflecting on her return to Taiwan, Lang stated: “Having served here in Taiwan earlier in my career, I’ve seen firsthand the strength of the U.S.-Taiwan relationship and of Taiwan’s vibrant democracy. I look forward to continuing our close strategic and economic collaboration, particularly in the cutting-edge technologies where Taiwan is a global leader.”
Lang earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Minnesota. She is a distinguished graduate from National Defense University’s Eisenhower School—formerly known as Industrial College of the Armed Forces—and received recognition with the Department of State’s Mary A. Ryan Award for Outstanding Public Service in 2015 due to her advocacy for dual national children while serving in Mexico. Lang speaks both Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.