Planning Advice For APEC 2014 in China

 

It's Time to Drop the "Informal" and Let Taiwan be Taiwan

Let's face it. China is the only country in the world that regularly uses the phrase "APEC Informal Economic Leaders' Meeting". And year after year, Taiwan has to endure the indignity of being referred to as "Chinese Taipei" at the APEC meetings. David Yung-lo Lin, the head of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it best in 2007 after rejecting China's statement that Taiwan belongs to the People's Republic of China as simply not true: "China is like a person who sees a rainbow on the horizon and then claims it for himself".

Taiwan's president is not even allowed to attend the APEC Leaders' Meeting and must choose a representative to attend on his behalf. It's time to let Taiwan be Taiwan and invite President Ma Ying-jeou to fully participate in APEC 2014 in China.

 

Mitt Romney was right about China

While President Obama disagreed with Mitt Romney on numerous issues, China was not one of them. China wants access to global markets and we want to make sure that they understand that in order for them to have free and open access to our markets, they have to play by the rules. They can't hack into our computer systems and steal from our government. They can't steal from corporations. They can't take patents, designs, and intellectual property and counterfeit them to sell them around the world. And they also can't manipulate their currency in such a way as to make their prices well below what they otherwise would be.

We want to have free trade. That's essential for the functioning of a strong economy. But we cannot allow one nation to continue to flaunt the rules and kill our jobs by allowing them continue as they have.

Let's hope that China recognizes the importance of these issues as they plan their 2014 APEC Summit.

 

Photos from APEC 2001 in Shanghai China

 

APEC Summit 2014 Leaders and Countries List

There are 21 APEC member economies:   Australia: Prime Minister Julia Gillard; Brunei: Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah; Canada: Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Chile: President Sebastián Piñera; China: President Xi Jinping; Hong Kong: Chief Executive CY Leung; Indonesia: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono; Japan: Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda; Malaysia: Prime Minister Najib Razak; Mexico: President Felipe Calderón; New Zealand: Prime Minister John Key; Papua New Guinea: Prime Minister Peter O'Neill; Peru: President Ollanta Humala; Philippines: President Benigno Aquino III; Russia: President Vladimir Putin; Singapore: Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; South Korea: President Lee Myung-bak; Thailand: Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra; Taiwan: President Ma Ying-jeou; Vietnam: President Truong Tan Sang; and the United States: President Barack Obama.

 

 

Other APEC Pages on the Website

APEC 2013 - Return to Indonesia
APEC 2012 - Let the Tradition Continue in Vladivostok
APEC 2011 - APEC Hawaii Costume Vote