TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) attended the first closed-door meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit on Friday. The annual gathering of the 21-member forum is being hosted by Thailand and will take place on Friday and Saturday.
Like in previous years, the 91-year-old billionaire is representing Taiwan as a stand-in for President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), due to Taiwan’s unusual international status.
According to media reports, leaders were seated by the alphabetical order of country and territory names. Chang was placed between the leaders of the United States and Singapore despite a sign in front of him reading Chinese Taipei.
Chang was not seated close to China’s leader Xi Jinping (習近平) and the two did not interact. Leaders in attendance are being encouraged to overcome differences and improve regional economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific.