U.S. APEC official in Taiwan for bilateral talks: AIT

Taipei, March 2 (CNA) U.S. Senior Official for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Casey Mace is visiting Taiwan from Monday to Tuesday to support Taiwan's international participation, according to the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).

During the two-day stay, Mace, who also heads the Office of Economic Policy in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, will hold meetings with Taiwan's senior officials and industry leaders, the de facto U.S. embassy said in a news release.

He will discuss "issues related to APEC, advance U.S.-Taiwan economic cooperation, and show support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in the international community, with a focus on supply chain resilience, AI, and the digital economy," it said.

Mace, a career diplomat with over 23 years at the U.S. Department of State focusing primarily on Indo-Pacific relations, has held his current post since August 2025.

Launched in 1989, APEC is an intergovernmental forum for 21 member economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Taiwan joined APEC in 1991 under the name "Chinese Taipei."

Mace's visit to Taiwan comes as China is hosting the 2026 APEC meetings in Shenzhen.

Taiwan's government has previously expressed concerns over its participation in this year's APEC meetings after China's foreign ministry said last year that it would fulfill its obligations as host as long as Taipei complies with the "one China" principle.

Beijing's "one China" principle asserts that Taiwan is part of China and that there is only one legitimate and sovereign state representing all of China, a claim repeatedly rejected by Taiwan.

Jonathan Sun (孫儉元), Taiwan's APEC senior official and head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of International Organizations, said earlier this year that Taiwan's delegation successfully visited Shenzhen for an APEC-related event in late 2025 and did not receive any treatment that downgraded Taiwan's sovereignty.