APEC members 'more interested in us' amid AI boom: Taiwan's envoy

Taipei, Nov. 1 (CNA) Lin Hsin-i (林信義), Taiwan's envoy to the 2025 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, said Saturday that Taiwan attracted more attention at the summit than two decades ago.

At a press conference summarizing his third APEC trip, Lin, a former vice premier who attended the 2005 and 2024 editions of the summit on behalf of Taiwanese presidents, said representatives from other member economies showed great interest in Taiwan's achievements in AI technology.

Among those foreign officials was U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, with whom Lin spoke for about 40 minutes.

Bessent expressed interest in learning more about how the government helped Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's leading producer of advanced AI chips, to grow, Lin said.

However, the discussion with Besent did not touch much on the ongoing tariff negotiations between Washington and Taipei, according to the delegation, which provided no updates on the bilateral talks.

Lin said he engaged in exchanges with representatives and leaders from more than 10 economies, including Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, with further details to be announced later.

However, Lin had no interactions with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) during the two-day meeting, including when leaders and representatives posed for a group photo on Saturday.

Lin stood at the far right of the second row, while Xi, leader of the host economy for next year's APEC, stood near the center of the front row, next to South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.

Asked to comment on the positions, Lin said the arrangement was natural, denying that President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) had instructed him to avoid contact with Xi or that South Korea deliberately placed him on the periphery.

"There were many people lining up," he said.

The 2025 summit focused on AI applications and related issues, as well as drastic demographic changes -- topics Lin said differed from the themes of economic cooperation and trade facilitation discussed at his first APEC meeting in Busan in 2005.

He cited Taiwan's deployment of AI-assisted decision-making during Typhoon Gaemi in 2024, saying the model significantly enhanced the precision and accuracy of storm monitoring and helped the government mitigate damage.

"I think I have done my best to fulfill the three missions assigned to me by President Lai," he said, declining to commit to whether he would attend the 2026 APEC summit.

"It's a tough task, no one wants to do it," he added, drawing laughter from the audience.