The founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Morris Chang will once again represent Taiwan at the upcoming APEC summit. President Tsai Ing-wen made the announcement on Tuesday. TSMC is the world’s biggest contract chip manufacturer and Chang is known as the “godfather” of computer chips.
Tsai said she hopes Chang will win support from member countries for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Taiwan applied for membership to the 11-nation free trade pact on September 22.
Chang said every country representative at the meeting only has six minutes to present their proposals. Besides expressing Taiwan’s hopes to join the CPTPP, Chang will stress that Taiwan’s total trade volume accounts for a significant proportion of the CPTPP. He said that figure is close to the high standard required by the trade pact.
Tsai said she hopes that APEC will continue to uphold trade liberalization around the world to help speed up economic recovery in the post-COVID era and maintain a reliable global supply chain.
This will be the fifth time that Chang represents Taiwan’s president at APEC as China has opposed the participation of Taiwan’s presidents at the annual summit.