Taipei, Nov. 10 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Tuesday named retired entrepreneur Morris Chang (張忠謀) as Taiwan's representative to the leaders' meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum scheduled to open on Nov. 20 in Malaysia.
It is the third time Tsai has named Chang, the founder of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), to represent her at the APEC summit.
Taiwan's presidents are not able to attend APEC summits because of the opposition of China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and balks at any situation that suggests Taiwan is a sovereign state.
Tsai said Chang will have two main tasks at this year's summit, which is being held in a virtual format because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One will be to reiterate that Taiwan is willing to make further contributions to the world on preventing the spread of COVID-19 and the other will be to strengthen Taiwan's ties to other countries and consolidate its position in global supply chains.
Taiwan will also use the APEC summit to pursue bilateral or multilateral economic cooperation agreements with other member countries, Tsai said, without providing any details.
Tsai said she believed Chang will be able to strengthen ties with Taiwan's APEC partners and allow Taiwan to find various niches in international cooperation.
According to Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵), Chang will participate in an online meeting between 8 p.m. and 10:05 p.m. on Nov. 20 Taipei time from the Presidential Office videoconferencing room.
Addressing a news conference he and Tsai attended, Chang said he expects digital technologies to dominate economic development in a post-COVID-19 era.
"Taiwan is doing very well in containing the virus by taking advantage of its digital technology capabilities and will be able to share its experiences in fighting the disease with other APEC member countries", Chang said.
The 89-year-old Chang said it was unfortunate that the 2020 summit is being held virtually, meaning he will not be able to see people he has met in past meetings.
Chang met U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the sidelines of the 2018 APEC summit in Papua New Guinea for talks on free trade. It was the highest-level leaders' talks between Taiwan and the United States at APEC.
The annual summit is seen as an important international dialogue mechanism and platform for economic issues, as well as an important international organization for Taiwan, which is a full member.
But because the benefits of participating in APEC forums often come in informal, face-to-face meetings on the sidelines of the forum's conferences, it remains unclear how much Chang will be able to accomplish in a virtual setting.
According to the host country, the summit will focus on possible measures among its member countries to contain the virus and on an economic vision post-2020.
The summit's theme will be "Optimising Human Potential Towards a Resilient Future of Shared Prosperity: Pivot. Prioritise. Progress."
Taiwan joined the regional economic forum in 1991, two years after it was established.
The first time Chang attended the APEC forum on behalf of Taiwan's president was in 2006 during the Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) administration.
He was named as Tsai's envoy last year, but host country Chile canceled the meeting because of social unrest.
Having earned a good reputation in the global semiconductor industry, Chang officially retired after more than three decades as TSMC's chairman and CEO on June 5, 2018.
(Source of news: CNA)
