President Tsai Ing-wen has been named the 17th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine. Tsai was elected president in January and took up office on May 20.
The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women list includes women in the fields of politics, business, technology and philanthropy.
Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany topped the list for the sixth year in a row. US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was second on the list followed by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Melinda Gates and the chair of General Motors, Mary Barra, made up the top five.
Forbes highlighted the recently elected female leaders of countries including Scotland, Myanmar, Mauritius, Nepal, Croatia, Lithuania and Taiwan. Aung Sun Suu Kyi, who recently assumed the office of state counsellor of Myanmar, did not make the list last year but returned this year in 26th place.
Other female Asian leaders featured on the list include President Park Geun-hye of South Korea and China’s first lady, Peng Liyuan.