Taiwan’s representative to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i, said on Saturday that he and United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed supply chains and semiconductor cooperation during a meeting held on the sidelines of the gathering in Gyeongju, South Korea.
Lin, a former economy minister, said their forty-minute discussion focused on building secure and resilient supply chains and deepening technological collaboration between Taiwan and the United States. He noted that Secretary Bessent had shown particular interest in understanding how Taiwan developed its globally dominant semiconductor industry, which forms the backbone of modern technology production.
“The two had a very wide-ranging discussion, covering cooperation in technology, the security of supply chains, and many other issues,” Lin told reporters. “He said he was intrigued to hear how Taiwan developed its high-tech semiconductor cluster and listened with great interest,” he added.
The United States Treasury Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Like most countries, the United States maintains no official diplomatic relations with Taiwan but remains the island’s most important international partner and supplier of defence equipment.
Taiwan’s exports to the United States, excluding semiconductors, are currently subject to a 20 per cent tariff, although Taipei has been holding discussions with Washington to reduce this figure.
Former United States President Donald Trump departed South Korea after meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the APEC leaders’ summit, leaving Secretary Bessent to head the American delegation. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also met Lin at the event and later shared a photograph of their meeting on X.
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum remains one of the few international platforms in which Taiwan participates, under the name “Chinese Taipei” to avoid political friction with Beijing, which claims the island as part of its territory.
Lin declined to comment on whether he had spoken to Xi during the summit. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that there was no interaction between the two at the closing ceremony group photograph, despite both being on the same stage. At last year’s summit in Peru, Lin greeted Xi with a wave but they did not speak, although he did meet then United States President Joe Biden in Lima.
China is set to host the 2026 APEC summit in Shenzhen, its southern manufacturing hub known for robotics and electric vehicle production. Taiwan’s foreign ministry official Jonathan Sun said that China had provided written assurances about the safety of participants and that Taipei was working within the APEC framework to ensure that Beijing honoured its commitments.
China’s government, which refuses to engage with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, continues to label him a separatist and has increased military pressure around the island. Taiwan’s government maintains that only the people of Taiwan have the right to decide their future.
(With inputs from Reuters)
