It's been an eventful APEC for Taiwan, including a photo op for the Taiwanese envoy with U.S. President Joe Biden. But more broadly, an absence of U.S. leadership overshadowed the summit, according to some observers.
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00:00This picture will be one of the defining ones of the APEC Leaders' Summit for Taiwan,
00:06an impromptu meeting between its envoy to the forum and US President Joe Biden.
00:12During the brief chat, Taiwan's envoy Lin Xinyi, a former economy minister, invited
00:18Biden to visit Taiwan in the near future and thanked him for his contributions to promoting
00:24Taiwan-US issues over his four years in power, according to the Taiwanese delegation.
00:42The interaction cannot be described as official, though, because of a lack of diplomatic ties
00:47between the two countries, owing to pressure from China, which claims Taiwan as its own.
00:54The White House described the encounter as just a handshake.
00:58But APEC, or Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summits, do allow for high-level interactions
01:05between Taiwanese and other officials, giving Taiwan an opportunity to push back against
01:11Chinese attempts to isolate it on the world stage.
01:16In this year's summit in Peru, Lin met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
01:21They talked about how to strengthen the Taiwan-US partnership, according to the Taiwanese delegation.
01:27Another goal for Taiwan at the Economic Forum has been to lobby support among members of
01:32a trade pact to let it join.
01:36Taiwan and China both apply to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific
01:41Partnership, or CPTPP, in 2021.
01:47Taipei argues applications should be decided on merit, and not politics.
02:02But some observers say this forum was not the right time or place to lobby for support
02:07for Taiwan's entry to the trade pact.
02:10More broadly, this year's APEC, a meeting of 21 economies that border the Pacific, was
02:36defined by an absence of US leadership.
02:40President Biden, now a lame-duck president, and his successor Donald Trump having won
02:44election promising protectionist trade policies.
02:49Some think at odds with APEC's aim of reducing trade barriers.
02:52I don't think the APEC summit this year was particularly successful for any of the member
02:58economies including Taiwan or Chinese Taipei, as it's known at APEC.
03:04With the US president in transition from one administration to the next administration,
03:09there really wasn't the presence of the economic powerhouse there.
03:15While that US absence was felt, China's presence was clear.
03:20President Xi Jinping announced his country will host APEC in 2026, another potential
03:26challenge for Taiwan as it tries to use this economic forum to further its international
03:33power.
03:34Scott Huang, James Lin and Louise Watt for Taiwan Plus.