The APEC forum is currently the most significant international organization in which Taiwan participates, but only relatively low-level Taiwanese officials are allowed to attend its meetings. Only the economic minister and chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development are permitted to take part, while the nation's foreign affairs minister is forced to stay at home.
From 1993 to last year, all the "economies" hosting the APEC leaders' meeting invited Taiwan's leaders to participate. But, for various reasons, Taiwan's leaders always appointed special representatives to attend in their place.
This year however, China, in its capacity as host of this year's summit in Shanghai, did not follow the precedent of inviting Taiwan's leaders to attend the meeting. Meanwhile, it delayed until the last moment the announcement of its refusal to allow Taiwan's chosen representative Li Yuan-zu (
Taipei relaxed its "no haste, be patient" (戒急用忍) policy while China was undertaking large-scale military exercises on and around its Dongshan Island (東山島). Since the policy has been replaced by one of "active opening and effective management" (積極開放, 有效管理), the government should have been prepared to attend the summit on the basis of consistent strategic thinking and in accordance with the new policy.
Since Taipei decided not to attend, however, it seems inappropriate for it to hasten the relaxation of its China policy at a time when the Chinese government is intentionally discriminating against and seeking to suppress Taiwan. By slowing down dealings with cross-strait issues, Taipei risks falling more behind.
Taiwan has been forced by China to adopt the title "Chinese Taipei" (
When Taiwan sends a presidential representative to the summit, that representative is able to interact with the leaders of the other 20 APEC members and voice its point of view, which is different from that of China or Hong Kong. Thus, the summit serves as an extremely precious international stage for Taiwan.
Taiwan's envoy to the summit must, therefore, be well-versed in foreign languages, economics, politics and diplomacy, and also be well-known internationally as well. The president's envoy is the nation's representative. The envoy should be directly appointed by the president regardless of which party is in power, and the position of envoy should be a permanent one, not one that is changed every year or two.
The economy hosting an APEC summit must inform Beijing of the identity of Taipei's representative to the forum. In the face of a range of restrictions, Taiwan needs to prepare cautiously for APEC summits in order to "win a victory through unusual means" (出奇致勝), as the old Chinese saying goes.
The international community may soon forget the joint statement made at the summit on Oct. 22, but it will remember Taiwan's absence and the conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Lin Cheng-yi is director of the Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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