President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) chosen representative for the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday, and many hope his influential status can help shine the international spotlight on Taiwan.
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TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday to attend the 2023 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit as Taiwan’s representative. Despite Taiwan’s full membership in APEC, Taiwan’s presidents have been prevented from attending the APEC summit for years, due to objections from China.
Chang and his wife Sophie (張淑芬) touched down around 3 p.m. Wednesday and were personally greeted by Taiwan's representative to the U.S. Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
Around 50 local Taiwanese residents awaited the Changs at their hotel, warmly welcoming them on arrival. Many in the Taiwanese community hope that Chang, through his influential position, will bring global attention to Taiwan.
Liu Ling-hsia (劉玲霞), former head of the Northern California chapter of the Taiwanese Women's Association says having Chang as Tsai’s representative at APEC has a big advantage. She says she believes that Chang can raise Taiwan’s profile internationally, allowing more and more people around the world to know about Taiwan.
After receiving flowers, cheers of encouragement for Taiwan, and taking photos with overseas Taiwanese, Morris Chang slowly made his way to the elevator without addressing the media.