The United States’ top official for handling affairs related to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) organization, Matt Murray, visited Taiwan earlier this week to discuss the United States-Taiwan relationship.
The visit from October 11 to 12 came ahead of the APEC Economic Leader’s Week (AELW) to be held in San Francisco from November 11 to 17. Taiwan is a full member of APEC, which consists of 21 member economies. However, Taiwan is the only member that has been consistently excluded from joining the annual meetings due to objections from China.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) in a statement on Friday said that Murray met with senior Taiwanese officials about the upcoming AELW meeting. The discussions also included topics such as the strong unofficial economic relations between the two countries, the results of the APEC ministerial meeting held in Seattle in August, and other upcoming APEC meetings, according to the statement.
AIT says that the U.S. is proud to serve as the host country for the 2023 APEC Conference and that this year's theme will be "Creating a Resilient and Sustainable Future for All."