Formal APEC invitation being sought: premier

Taiwan is working to secure a formal invitation from China to attend the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, but will not rush into a decision on whether to attend the summit, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.

Chinese-language media on Monday, citing unnamed government sources, reported that China, the host of this year’s APEC meeting, had departed from protocol by sending an e-mail rather than a formal invitation to Taiwan for the summit, scheduled to take place in Shenzhen on Nov. 18 and 19.

In response to media queries, Cho yesterday urged China to follow established APEC practices by sending a special envoy to deliver invitations to member economies, ensuring that all participants are treated equally and that Taiwan can attend the meeting on an equal footing and with dignity.

Premier Cho Jung-tai speaks to reporters outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.

Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times

“We are continuing our efforts to secure such participation and will not rush into making any other decisions,” Cho said when asked whether the treatment would affect Taiwan’s decision on whether to send a representative to the summit.

Meanwhile, Cho declined to comment yesterday on a potential Taiwan-Japan trade pact that the two sides could reportedly finalize by the end of this year at the earliest.

Nikkei Asia on Monday reported that the pact would resemble the Enhanced Trade Partnership signed between Taiwan and the UK in 2023.

The Taiwan-Japan deal would cover five areas of cooperation: economic resilience and innovation, industry cooperation on disaster risk reduction, digital trade, trade facilitation, and sustainability, it reported.

Cho said that Taiwan and Japan had established communication channels and “many shared issues in development.”

“However, we have no further comment on the progress at this time,” he said.