The minister of Taiwan’s National Development Council, Kuan Chung-ming, says that he will discuss the issue of regional integration at the upcoming APEC forum in Beijing.
This year’s APEC or Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will be held in Beijing in early November, along with a leader’s summit. Kuan is set to participate in an APEC minister’s meeting along with Economics Minister Woody Duh.
Taiwan has had a difficult time integrating with the regional economy due to opposition from China, which sees Taiwan as part of its territory.
At a committee meeting in the legislature on Thursday, a ruling party lawmaker asked Kuan if Taiwan should discuss the issue with China. Kuan responded by saying that it was not necessary.
“Let me explain to the committee members, this is not something that we should discuss with Mainland China, because China is not our boss, so we do not need to discuss it," said Kuan. "Perhaps they will take certain measures to stop us, but we need to come up with a way to deal with that. We do not need to report to them, and we certainly don’t need to discuss it with them.”
Kuan said he would convey to the other finance ministers at the APEC forum Taiwan’s desire to integrate with the regional economy.