25 Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter urging the State Department to allow Taiwan’s participation in the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. That’s according to a Tuesday report from Fox News. The APEC Leaders Meeting will take place from November 11 to 17 in San Francisco, California. APEC consists of 21 member economies, of which Taiwan is the only member to be excluded from joining the annual meetings due to objections from China. Taiwan has been a member of APEC since 1991 under the name Chinese Taipei.
The Republicans, led by Texas Rep. Lance Gooden, said that Taiwan is a full member of APEC and deserves the same treatment as all other members. The letter says the U.S. should use its platform as the host nation to invite Taiwan to join the summit, and that failing to do so will only embolden the Chinese Communist Party.
The State Department declined to comment on the letter according to Fox News. However, U.S. Senior Official for APEC Matt Murray visited Taiwan last June, according to a statement from the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). The statement says that Murray discussed many APEC issues with Taiwanese officials. This included Taiwan’s participation in lower-level APEC meetings, such as the August Energy Ministerial Meeting in Seattle. Economics Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) later attended the meeting in Seattle from August 15 to 16.