The eldest daughter of Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou has married a successful Taiwanese American fashion model, confirmed the presidential office Monday night.
The marriage of Lesley Ma, the Taiwan president’s eldest daughter, to her Harvard classmate and longtime boyfriend Allen Pei-Jan Tsai last year became the topic of furious media gossip after a banquet held at Taipei’s Grand Hotel on March 9 was suspected to be a belated wedding banquet.
The couple registered their marriage in New York last year and have moved to Hong Kong since, reported China Times.
However, last week’s Grand Hotel banquet was a reunion party for Lesley Ma’s Harvard classmates, insisted Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei. The party had been thrown by Lesley and her sister Kelly Ma for classmates who had expressed interest in Taiwan, presumably by visiting the island state. President Ma himself stuck to the story when he was congratulated by other officials Sunday morning during official party activities.
Allen Pei-Jan Tsai was said born in Taiwan on August 5, 1980 but had grown up in the United States from an early age. From 2006 to 2008 he worked in Hong Kong for the RREEF real estate affiliate of Deutsche Bank. While traveling in Europe in 2008 Tsai was discovered by the modeling agent of an Italian friend and signed a two-year contract with US model agency NEXT.
Tsai’s most visible fashion modeling jobs have been for Levi’s, Esprit, GAP and CK. He also made a splash as a rising star at the Milan Fashion show in June 2009 thanks to his long hair, muscular build and boldly Asian features. He has also appeared in fashion magazine features, including Italian Vogue and Vanity Fair, Tokyo Numero and an H&M fashion spread.
Tsai said he took up modeling because he wanted to try something different while he was still young.
He was a Havard classmate of Lesley Ma and had been dating her for several years before their marriage. In response to media questions as to whether Tsai holds a Taiwan or US passport or the Taiwanese city of his birth, the Presidential Office asked the media to respect the couple’s privacy.
The couple’s desire for privacy is further evidenced by the fact that all posts have apparently been deleted from Tsai’s Facebook page.
