By Ryan Woo and Ben Blanchard
BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) -China’s foreign ministry has dismissed safety concerns raised by Taiwan about its hosting of the APEC summit next year, but said the island’s participation rests on its compliance with established practice and the “one China” principle.
The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping is one of the few international bodies Chinese-claimed Taiwan is a member of, though it takes part as “Chinese Taipei” to avoid political problems and its president never attends.
The summit, in southern China’s Shenzhen next November, comes as relations between Beijing and Taipei have plummeted, with China regularly sending its military into the waters and skies around the island and refusing to speak to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, who China calls a “separatist”.
On Saturday, Taiwan foreign ministry official Jonathan Sun said in South Korea at the end of this year’s summit that China had provided written assurances last year about the safety of all participants in that summit.
In a written statement to Reuters, China’s foreign ministry said there were no worries.
“As the host of APEC in 2026, China will fulfil its host-country obligations in accordance with APEC rules and customary practice, and there will be no issue with all parties participating smoothly,” it said.
“We would like to emphasize that the key to Chinese Taipei’s participation in APEC activities lies in compliance with the ‘one China’ principle and the relevant APEC memorandum of understanding, rather than any safety issues.”
China views democratically governed Taiwan as being part of “one China”. Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.
China was angered about Taiwan’s representative, former economy minister Lin Hsin-i, meeting Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in South Korea, though Lin dismissed Beijing’s protest.
Japan, like all other APEC members, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Speaking in Taipei on Monday after returning from South Korea, Sun said Taiwan had already asked China last year whether it would get “equal treatment” and expressed concerns about its people’s safety, adding that other “like-minded partners” had similar worries.
“We hope everyone can urge the Chinese side to fulfil their promises to ensure to safety of all the participants and equal participation of the economies, not only Taiwan,” he said.
The last time China hosted an APEC summit, in 2014, relations with Taiwan were much better under then-President Ma Ying-jeou, who signed landmark trade and tourism deals with Beijing.
However, in 2001 Taiwan boycotted the APEC summit in China after a disagreement over who it could send.
(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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