Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) missed a chance to promote Taiwan's representative Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) Thursday during a press conference at the APEC summit..
Lin appeared nervous and remained silent when asked by the Taipei Times about Lee's background.
In contrast, Shi Guangsheng (石廣生), China's minister of foreign trade and economic cooperation, and Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) seemed confident and assertive, seizing opportunities to explain their country's policies.
A press conference was held Thursday at the end of the two-day APEC ministerial meeting in the Mexican resort town.
During the question-and-answer session, the Taipei Times posed two questions: one to Lin and the other to Shi.
The Taipei Times asked Lin to briefly give the background of Lee, who is attending the summit on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). The Times added that many attending members might not be familiar with Lee as he is the only such member who is not a head of state at this weekend's APEC leaders' summit.
China has blocked Taiwan's president, vice president and premier from attending any APEC leaders' summit since 1993, when the first summit was held in Seattle, Washington.
For Shi, the Taipei Times asked whether APEC serves as an occasion for the two sides to conduct cross-strait talks.
Before Shi could respond, Chairman Luis Ernesto Derbez, Mexican minister of economy, said agreements were made in the past on how Chinese Taipei -- Taiwan's title at the forum -- should participate in the organization.
The question, he added, was relevant to only the two sides and should be discussed outside of the meeting.
The chairman immediately moved on to the next question before Lin could reply.
Lin's inaction surprised the delegation and reporters from Taiwan.
In explaining why he failed to respond, the minister said he had carefully listened to the question but, because the question for Shi was blocked by the chairman, he did not offer his answer either.
Lin not only failed to answer an easy question, he neglected to assert Taiwan's rights when Tang told his audience that the US should stick to the three communiques between China and the US so as to allow relations to move forward.
The two Chinese officials took the spotlight at the meeting, being the most sought-after ministers among the 21 member economies.
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