Taiwan Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun to Attend APEC Meeting in Hong Kong

POLICY WIRE — Taipei, Taiwan — Taiwan Finance Minister Chuang Tsui-yun is scheduled to travel to Hong Kong next week to participate in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) finance ministers meeting. Her ministry confirmed the upcoming trip on Tuesday, October 13, noting that the minister will attend the sessions as is customary.

The regional gathering is set to take place from October 20 to October 21. This diplomatic engagement occurs against a backdrop of intensified military and political pressure from Beijing, which claims Taiwan as its own territory.

APEC remains one of the few international forums where Taiwan maintains a presence, participating under the designation of Chinese Taipei, a name it also utilizes for Olympic competition. China is serving as the host for this year’s APEC events, with a leaders’ summit slated for November in the city of Shenzhen.

Beijing has consistently rebuffed dialogue overtures from Taiwan leader Lai Ching-te, labeling him a separatist, while maintaining a near-daily military presence around the island. In response, Lai maintains that the future of Taiwan must be determined solely by its own citizens.

This visit follows a recent trip by Taiwan’s Labour Minister, Hung Sun-han, who traveled to Nanjing last month for a separate APEC event. While lower-level officials have attended various APEC functions within China, Taiwan has not yet disclosed its representative for the upcoming leaders’ summit, an event that presidents of the island typically do not attend, opting instead to send business leaders or former officials.

Organizers in Hong Kong did not immediately provide a response to requests for comment regarding the meeting. Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)