Taiwan’s Lai Ching-te sends his first minister to APEC China: A thaw?

(Edited and refined by Grace Chong, with the assistance of AI translation.)

Taiwan Labour Minister Hung Sun-han will travel to mainland China later this month for an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meeting, becoming the first Cabinet minister under Taiwan President Lai Ching-te to visit the mainland.

Academics interviewed said the trip does not signal a breakthrough in cross-strait relations. But Lai’s willingness to send a serving minister to the mainland reflects his pragmatism. Beijing, meanwhile, appears willing to abide by existing norms governing international interactions and has not imposed further obstacles.

Hung to attend APEC meeting in Nanjing

Hung confirmed on 1 September that he had received a formal invitation to attend the APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting in Nanjing on 21 September.

He stressed that APEC is an important international multilateral cooperation mechanism in which Taiwan could participate as a formal member, with “equal participation” as a core principle.

At a regular press conference on 2 September, Zhang Han, a spokesperson for the mainland’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, was asked whether Hung’s visit would help strengthen cross-strait exchanges and interaction.

“As the host of this year’s APEC activities, we handle matters concerning the participation of the Taiwan region in accordance with the one China principle and the provisions and established practices of the relevant APEC memorandum of understanding,” she said.

When pressed on whether Beijing would ensure that Hung could attend the meeting smoothly, Zhang reiterated that mainland China’s position on Taiwan-related issues within APEC was “consistent and clear”.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, meanwhile, said that there is no “one China” principle precondition for Taiwan’s participation in APEC.

Taiwan’s foreign affairs ministry also said that from December last year to the end of August this year, 25 government offices and other organisations, involving more than 300 participants in total, had travelled to mainland China to attend various APEC meetings, including ministerial- and high-level meetings. The visits had proceeded smoothly. Taiwan had also conveyed a request to the mainland to ensure the safety of Hung and his delegation and facilitate their smooth participation.

Political parties back Hung’s trip

Political parties across Taiwan’s political spectrum support Hung’s attendance in the mainland.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus stressed that Taiwan is an APEC member. On an equal and dignified basis, it should not be absent simply because the meeting is being held in mainland China.

The Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party also viewed the visit positively, but criticised the DPP for previously portraying exchanges between the pan-Blue and pan-White camps and mainland China as posing United Front risks, while now supporting a visit to the mainland by its own minister. They accused the DPP of applying a double standard.

Not a breakthrough in cross-strait relations

Bao Chengke, a researcher at the Shanghai Cross-Strait Research Association, told Lianhe Zaobao that Hung’s trip to Nanjing was an arrangement under APEC’s existing mechanisms and should not be overinterpreted for its political significance.

He noted that during Chen Shui-bian’s presidency, Taiwan’s finance minister had also travelled to mainland China to attend APEC-related meetings. This showed that there was a precedent for serving ministers to visit the mainland for such events.

Bao said Lai’s willingness to send a serving minister to the mainland reflected a “pragmatic side” of the president. “This is something Lai Ching-te has never shown before,” he said.

The move also showed that Taiwan values regional economic cooperation and wants to maintain its international visibility through participation in APEC, Bao said. However, he stressed that sending a minister to the mainland for the meeting did not mean the Lai administration’s overall policy towards mainland China had changed.

Wang Chih-sheng, secretary-general of the Taiwan Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association, said Hung’s trip was simply an exchange conducted under an existing international mechanism. It had attracted greater attention because mainland China was this year’s host.

He said this model of exchange was closer to the “healthy, orderly and equal exchanges” advocated by the Lai administration.

Wang said that, from Beijing’s perspective, the “one China” principle and the established practices governing APEC could “co-exist without contradiction”.

He noted that a tacit understanding over Taiwan’s participation in APEC had developed over many years. While Beijing has various technical means at its disposal to hinder Taiwan’s participation, none has been used so far.

To some extent, this could be interpreted as Beijing’s willingness to abide by existing norms governing international interactions, Wang said. It also suggests that Beijing “does not intend to exert further pressure on Taiwan”.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “赖清德政府首位部长将赴中国大陆 学者：展现务实但两岸关系未变”.

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