Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) said on Saturday that he hoped President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) would name the country’s envoy to next month’s APEC summit before the end of this month.
Taiwan’s president has not been allowed to attend APEC summits since the country’s admittance to the forum in 1991 because of opposition from Beijing.
The country sends an economic official or business leader in place of the president.
Peru, which will host the summit, has asked Taipei to inform it who will attend as envoy, Ou said.
He added that “the decision should not be made after Chen Yun-lin’s (陳雲林) Taipei trip.”
Chen is the chairman of China’s Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait and is expected to visit Taipei late this month or early next month for talks with Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤).
Political analysts said Ou likely urged Ma to name the envoy before Chen’s visit to shield Ma from possible criticism that he intends to seek Beijing’s approval of his choice.
Ou said his ministry had given Ma a list of candidates for the forum, which opens on Nov. 22 in Lima.
Given that key governments are watching developments between Taiwan and China, Ou said Taipei would have its representatives to the US, Japan and EU countries brief their host countries on the talks between Chen and Chiang after their meeting.
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