{"version":"1.9","identifier":"c9e921ee-9518-4248-82fa-93460d6a0954","language":"en-US","title":"Taiwan protests China's emailed invitation to APEC summit in Shenzhen","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://567politics.com/news/taiwan-apec-shenzhen-invitation-protest-lin-chia-lung-november-2026","datePublished":"2026-11-03T00:21:15.414339Z","dateModified":"2026-11-03T00:23:15.377403Z","authors":["567 Politics staff"],"excerpt":"Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung says Beijing broke with past practice, but Taiwan will still attend the Nov. 18-19 leaders' meeting.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/c9e921ee-9518-4248-82fa-93460d6a0954/0c80755a775a7400a7ed78d4bb18b56d.jpg","keywords":["tw"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"Taiwan protests China's emailed invitation to APEC summit in Shenzhen","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung says Beijing broke with past practice, but Taiwan will still attend the Nov. 18-19 leaders' meeting.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By 567 Politics staff · Published November 3, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/c9e921ee-9518-4248-82fa-93460d6a0954/0c80755a775a7400a7ed78d4bb18b56d.jpg","caption":"The main entrance of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, photographed in June 2022. The ministry said it protested China's handling of Taiwan's APEC invitation. · Yu tptw via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)","accessibilityCaption":"The main entrance of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, photographed in June 2022. The ministry said it protested China's handling of Taiwan's APEC invitation.","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"The main entrance of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei, photographed in June 2022. The ministry said it protested China's handling of Taiwan's APEC invitation. · Yu tptw via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Taiwan says China is treating it differently from other members ahead of this month's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen. On Monday, November 2, Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung said Beijing had sent Taiwan its summit invitation by email. In past years, a host has had the invitation delivered in person.\n\nLin said Taiwan had protested. He also said Taiwan would still attend the leaders' meeting on November 18 and 19. His words were reported by [Focus Taiwan](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202611020020), the English service of Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA). \"We will lodge an immediate protest against any action that violates established practices, but we will not, as a result, forfeit our right to participate,\" he said.\n\nThe dispute is the latest test of how China, as host, will handle a member it claims as its own territory. This article explains what each side has said, how China handled the same question in 2001 and 2014, and who might represent Taiwan in Shenzhen.\n\n## What Taiwan says happened\n\nThe story began with a report in the Liberty Times early on Monday. Citing unnamed government sources, it said China had sent Taiwan a letter rather than a formal invitation. The [Taipei Times](https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2026/11/02/2003866988), the Liberty Times' English sister paper, carried the same account. It said the letter did not call Taiwan \"Chinese Taipei,\" the name Taiwan uses in APEC.\n\nAn official quoted anonymously by the Taipei Times said the government was assessing whether it could accept the arrangements. The official said Taiwan's representative had already been chosen and that Beijing had been told. The Presidential Office would announce the choice, the official said.\n\nThe official argued that staying silent would be a mistake. Failing to protest, the official said, could let Beijing use the same approach in the future.\n\nTaiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it had lodged a strong protest. It said Taiwan was preparing to take part \"in accordance with past practice.\"\n\n## What Lin said on Monday\n\nLin spoke to reporters later on Monday after an event in Taipei. His account differed in one respect from the Monday morning report.\n\nHe confirmed that China had not sent an official to deliver the invitation. Instead it came by email. But Lin said the email did use \"Chinese Taipei,\" according to Focus Taiwan. The [United Daily News](https://udn.com/news/story/6656/9852167) reported that Lin did not say whether the invitation itself contained any other unequal treatment.\n\nLin said Taiwan is a full APEC member and has taken part in leaders' summits on an equal footing. He said China had promised, when it bid to host, to follow APEC's rules and customs. He said it had also promised to ensure that all delegates are treated equally and kept safe.\n\nLin said China had treated Taiwan differently at several APEC meetings this year. Each time, he said, the ministry protested right away, according to [CNA's Chinese-language report](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202611020176.aspx).\n\nHe also pointed to a tool Taiwan holds. APEC works by consensus, so each member can affect the wording of joint statements. Lin said that if China treats Taiwan unequally, Taiwan will reflect that in how it responds to China's own proposals. If China does not follow the rules, \"that is their problem,\" he said, according to the United Daily News, in a translation by 567 Politics.\n\n## Two summits China hosted before\n\nChina has hosted the APEC leaders' meeting twice before. The two cases show how much the handling of Taiwan has depended on relations across the Taiwan Strait.\n\n**2001, Shanghai.** Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was Taiwan's president. According to the Taipei Times, Beijing sent an unsigned fax. It also rejected Chen's chosen envoy, former Vice President Li Yuan-tsu. Taiwan then stayed away from the summit.\n\n**2014, Beijing.** Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang (KMT) was president, and ties with Beijing were warmer. China sent Gong Qinggai, then a deputy director of its Taiwan Affairs Office. He handed the invitation to Wang Yu-chi, then head of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, at the Taipei Guest House. Former Vice President Vincent Siew then attended the Beijing summit for Taiwan, the United Daily News reported.\n\nLai Ching-te of the DPP is now president. Beijing refuses to talk to him and calls him a \"separatist,\" according to [Reuters](https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/taiwan-says-china-has-added-conditions-to-its-attendance-at-apec-summit).\n\n## Why the name matters\n\nAPEC was founded in 1989 and has 21 member economies, Focus Taiwan noted. Both China and Taiwan are full members. It is one of the few international bodies Taiwan belongs to. No APEC member has formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Reuters noted.\n\nTaiwan joined in 1991 under a memorandum of understanding signed with that year's host, South Korea. In November 2025, Taiwan's foreign ministry said the memorandum names Taiwan \"Chinese Taipei.\" It said the text contains no reference to a \"one China\" principle. It also said the text lets Taiwan take part \"on an equal basis,\" [CNA reported](https://www.cna.com.tw/news/aipl/202511120382.aspx). The ministry said China's own memorandum only \"takes note of\" Beijing's one-China position.\n\nBeijing reads the arrangement differently. On September 16, 2026, Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian set out its view. She said Taiwan takes part in APEC under the one-China principle, as a regional economy. Zhu called this \"an important political premise,\" [China News Service reported](https://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2026/09-16/10697379.shtml). She said all sides must follow the memorandums and APEC practice.\n\nThere is a detail that English hides. Both sides say \"Chinese Taipei\" in English, but the Chinese terms differ. Taiwan's foreign ministry uses Zhonghua Taibei. The Taiwan Affairs Office uses Zhongguo Taibei, which reads more directly as \"China's Taipei.\" In November 2025, Taiwan's ministry said a statement using that term was seriously at odds with the facts, CNA reported. The gap helps explain why Taipei watches the wording of every letter.\n\n## A dispute building for a year\n\nThe argument over the Shenzhen summit is not new. On November 5, 2025, Lin said China had \"added a lot of conditions\" to Taiwan's attendance, Reuters reported. He said China had made a written commitment in 2024, while bidding to host, to support Taiwan's equal participation and its delegates' safety.\n\nA Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman, Zhang Han, replied the same day. He said China would handle Taiwan's participation \"in accordance with the one China principle\" and APEC's memorandums and practices.\n\nThe United States weighed in that week. A State Department spokesperson said Washington \"insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies,\" including Taiwan, according to [Reuters via CNA](https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/taiwan-china-host-apec-equal-participation-us-5449211). The spokesperson said this was \"consistent with APEC's guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026.\" Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said China would fulfill its duties as host.\n\nFor context on the wider rivalry, see our comparison of [China and the United States](https://567politics.com/compare-countries/china-vs-united-states).\n\n## How this year's meetings have gone\n\nTaiwan has sent ministers to APEC meetings across China this year. According to the [United Daily News](https://udn.com/news/story/6656/9850731), former minister without portfolio Jenny Yang led Taiwan's team at the trade ministers' meeting in Suzhou in May. Deputy Digital Minister Hou Yi-hsiu went to the digital and artificial intelligence meeting in Chengdu in July. Labor Minister Hung Sun-han attended the human resources meeting in Nanjing in September.\n\nIn May, a foreign ministry official, Chang Chih-sa, described the early meetings. Chang said Chinese officials had at times used belittling language about Taiwan in written replies or at news briefings. After Taiwan protested, Chang said, its participation had been equal and smooth, [Storm Media reported](https://www.storm.mg/article/11130704).\n\n## Who might go to Shenzhen\n\nTaiwan's president does not attend APEC summits. Instead, the president names a representative. Lai chose Lin Hsin-i, chairman of Taiwania Capital, for the 2024 and 2025 summits, the [Presidential Office said](https://english.president.gov.tw/News/7018) last year. Lin Hsin-i had also attended in 2005.\n\nThe United Daily News reported that the government first wanted Lin Hsin-i again this year. It said he declined for health reasons. The paper said the government is leaning toward a business leader. It named three possible choices: Acer founder Stan Shih, TSMC Chairman C.C. Wei, and TTY Biopharm Chairman Lin Chuan. The government has not confirmed any name.\n\nFor more on regional tensions with China, see our report on [Japan's defense spending debate](https://567politics.com/news/japan-defense-spending-five-year-plan-takaichi-november-2026) and our [China and Japan comparison](https://567politics.com/compare-countries/china-vs-japan).\n\n## Reaction in Taiwan and in Chinese media\n\nNot everyone in Taiwan backed the way the government handled the matter. Huang Kuo-chang, chairman of the opposition Taiwan People's Party, questioned the approach, the United Daily News reported. He said the government should explain such a serious matter to the public directly. He asked why officials were speaking anonymously and protesting in private.\n\nWe did not find a public response from China's Taiwan Affairs Office or Foreign Ministry to Lin's Monday remarks by the time of publication.\n\nA commentary on the Chinese platform [NetEase](https://www.163.com/dy/article/LAON1NEA055670M3.html) by an account called Guanruiqi took Beijing's side. It argued that the emailed invitation followed the rules. It said a personal delivery would have given Taipei symbolic status it had not earned. The writer also linked the protest to Taiwan's local elections. The commentary is opinion and does not speak for the Chinese government.\n\nThose elections are on November 28, ten days after the summit. About 19.65 million people are eligible to vote for 11,051 local posts, according to [Taiwan's Central Election Commission](https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202608200010).\n\n## The open questions before the summit\n\nSeveral points remain unsettled:\n\n* **Who will represent Taiwan.** The Presidential Office is expected to announce the name soon.\n* **Whether Taiwan accepts the terms.** An anonymous official said the government was still assessing the arrangements.\n* **How Beijing responds.** China has not yet commented on Lin's remarks about the invitation.\n* **How Taiwan's delegates are treated.** Officials in Taipei have said they will watch for any downgrading of Taiwan's status in Shenzhen.\n\nThe leaders' meeting runs November 18 and 19. 567 Politics will update this story when Taiwan names its representative.\n\n## About this article\n\nThis article is based on reporting by Focus Taiwan and CNA, the Taipei Times, the United Daily News, Storm Media and China News Service. We also used Reuters reports carried by The Straits Times and CNA of Singapore, and statements from Taiwan's Presidential Office and Central Election Commission. Chinese-language material was translated by 567 Politics. Claims from unnamed officials are labeled as such. We could not reach the Liberty Times' Chinese-language report directly and relied on the Taipei Times' account. No chart is included because the story turns on diplomatic practice, not figures. We did not review political funding records for the officials named; they do not bear on this dispute. Read how we handle sources in our [editorial standards](https://567politics.com/editorial-standards) and [methodology](https://567politics.com/methodology).","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}