TAIPEI - Taiwan’‘s presidential office said on Oct 21 it had appointed a senior adviser to President Lai Ching-te as its envoy to 2024’s Apec summit in Peru, one of the few international forums both Taiwan and China take part it.

       Mr Lin Hsin-i, chairman of government-backed investment fund Taiwania Capital and also a former economy minister, would represent Taiwan at the summit, the presidential office said in a statement.

       Mr Lin, 77, has led the delegation once before, in 2005 in South Korea, and attended Apec twice before that, the presidency said.

       He “is familiar with Apec operations and issues”, it added.

       Mr Lin briefly exchanged greetings with then-Chinese President Hu Jintao at the 2005 summit. Neither government officially recognised the other.

       Chinese-claimed Taiwan participates as “Chinese Taipei” at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and does not send its president to summits, given the political sensitivities and China’s objections.

       The 2024 leader’s summit, which starts on Nov 15 in Lima, will take place around a month after China staged its latest round of war games around Taiwan it said were a warning to “separatist acts”.

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       The democratically-elected government in Taipei rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

       At 2023’s summit in San Francisco, Taiwan’s Apec envoy, TSMC founder Morris Chang, had informal interactions with US President Joe Biden and discussions with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but none with Chinese President Xi Jinping. REUTERS