TSMC founder Morris Chang will be representing Taiwan at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation or APEC summit in Papua New Guinea this month. Today he met President Tsai Ing-wen at the Presidential Office and laid out his game plan for the upcoming summit. Chang said he would keep his interactions with world leaders "natural" and centered on trade matters. He said he intends to serve as a proxy for President Tsai, channeling her views as he works to advance her economic agenda.This morning, President Tsai received this year''s Taiwan representative to APEC, Morris Chang, who will embark for Papua New Guinea on Nov. 16.In an international press conference after the reception, Chang laid out his goals for the trip.Morris ChangTaiwan''s representative to APECAPEC stands for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. The APEC meeting is an economic conference. It is not a political conference, and it is not a meeting about foreign diplomacy. I will attend this conference as the representative of Chinese Taipei. As the president reminded me today, I will act as a proxy who expresses her views on economic issues.Participants at this year''s APEC summit include Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, and Japan''s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Chang''s interactions with the three leaders will fall subject to intense scrutiny.Morris ChangTaiwan''s representative to APECAny contact that we could possibly encounter - we will treat it all as a very natural interaction. The words that will be said to each person will be different. Our message to Abe, our message to Pence, and our message to Xi won''t all be the same. Also, our message will depend on what their attitude toward us is.Chang stated he has two important goals at the summit. First, he aims to plan meetings with Japan''s prime minister to discuss Taiwan''s participation in a trade agreement known as the CPTPP. Chang said his second goal was to arrange a sit-down with the U.S. vice president.
