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Published Date: 2018-11-12
Taiwan’s APEC envoy, TSMC founder Morris Chang, said that “Taiwan, Chinese Taipei” is the country’s official name at APEC. He was speaking at a press conference on Monday at the Presidential Office in Taipei before departing for the APEC Summit.
This year’s summit will take place from November 12-18 in Papua New Guinea, with the theme of “Harnessing Inclusive Opportunities, Embracing the Digital Future.”
Chang said that “Chinese Taipei” plays a key role the APEC supply chain. He’s hoping to resolve issues such as tariffs during bilateral and multilateral talks at the summit. That’s because key innovators and players in the supply chain will all be at the summit.
He also said he’s looking to interact with world leaders at this year’s leader’s summit, which begins on Monday. Chang was speaking at a press conference at the Presidential Office in Taipei earlier in the day, prior to his departure.
US Vice President Mike Pence, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping will all attend the summit in Papua New Guinea this week.
Chang was asked by reporters if he has any message to give those leaders. He replied, “Certainly there are things I’d like to say to those leaders and it is different for each person. You also have to see what their attitude is and have a natural interaction. It’s not like, you have in mind what you want to say, and no matter what the other person says, you just ‘blah blah blah’, say whatever you want. That would not be good.”
A reporter also asked if Chang would tell Japan about Taiwan’s desire to enter the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chang said that Japan knows Taiwan’s intentions.
“I think everyone knows we are interested in joining the CPTPP, so I don’t need to tell them we are interested,” said Chang. “Our discussion would be more about ‘What does it take?’ And if they ask about Fukushima exports to Taiwan, they would ask ‘What does it take?’ This is our opportunity for discussion and I don’t want to tell you about the contents of our discussion at this time.
Taiwan has banned food imports from Fukushima, due to concerns about radiation, ever since a nuclear power plant disaster in that region in 2011.
This year’s APEC Summit will take place from November 12-18 in Papua New Guinea, with the theme of “Harnessing Inclusive Opportunities, Embracing the Digital Future.”
Taiwan has been a full member of the 21-member APEC forum since 1991. However, the country’s president is traditionally prohibited from attending the annual leader’s summit, due to Chinese opposition.
This year’s envoy, Morris Chang, will attend on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen. Chang is the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest semiconductor foundry.