Taiwan APEC Representative Meets Biden, Requests Visit "In the Near Future"

The representative of Taiwan to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) reportedly met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Lima, Peru, and requested a visit to Taiwan in the near future, according to Taiwanese media outlets Liberty Times and United Daily News on the 17th (local time).

(From left) Tony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State. Lin Hsin-yi, Taiwan Representative [Captured by Central News Agency of Taiwan]

According to the APEC Taiwan delegation, Lin Hsin-yi, Taiwan's APEC representative, met President Biden on the 15th in Lima during a closed-door dialogue attended by APEC member and non-member countries. She expressed gratitude for his contributions over the past four years to enhancing Taiwan-U.S. relations and conveyed an invitation for a visit.

Taiwanese media reported that President Biden expressed a "positive stance," and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was reportedly listening nearby at the time.

Previously, Dwight Eisenhower was the first and only sitting U.S. president to visit Taiwan in June 1960. Subsequently, former U.S. presidents visited Taiwan in their post-presidential capacity: Jimmy Carter in March 1999, George H. W. Bush in November 1993, and Bill Clinton twice, in February 2005 and November 2010.

Representative Lin also held a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, exchanging views on strengthening Taiwan-U.S. relations and discussing regional peace, stability, and development. He added that during this APEC summit, he greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping but did not shake hands.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese media, citing local Peruvian sources, reported that the Chinese side mobilized 17 masked Chinese individuals to forcibly remove "Taiwan" promotional signs installed by Taiwan in seven locations around Lima during APEC. It was also reported that the power to the Taiwan promotional billboards installed along the route taken by President Xi's vehicle was arbitrarily cut off for about 40 minutes.