President Chen’s envoy low-key before Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meet

If he has the opportunity, he would ask Chinese President Hu Jintao about issues related to cross-strait trade relations and the world’s expectations for peace, he said.

The APEC leaders’ summit will be held between Sept. 8 and 9, in Sydney, Australia.

This year, President Chen Shui-bian appointed Stan Shih to represent him during the economic forum. Shih is currently group chairman of iD SoftCapital and chairman emeritus of the Acer Group. In 1976, he co-founded Multitech International Corp., the forerunner of ACER. Today, ACER ranks number 3 for notebook sales worldwide.

“I am glad to represent Taiwan during this troubled time,” said Shih during an event organized yesterday by the Government Information Office prior to his departure to Australia.

This year, the government is using the APEC meetings as an opportunity to enhance Taiwan’s international image, as the government has launched an all-out campaign to support Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations.

President Chen is also facing criticism from Washington and Beijing for using the referendum as a political tool.

Yet Shih said that he is willing to use this opportunity to exchange views with all the APEC’s representatives, whatever their nationality.

In particular, Shih will push for two of Taiwan’s initiatives: the “Green APEC” and the “APEC Digital Opportunity Center” (ADOC 2.0).

“I will not address the referendum issue directly unless I am asked about it,” said Shih. “In this case, I will say that Taiwan is an independent country, which has the authority to participate in the U.N. Assembly.”

Media organizations present during the event engaged in speculation about Shih, who will be accompanied by his wife to Australia.

When a reporter asked him the color he would wear during the APEC group picture at the end of the summit, Shih said, “I will wear orange because I don’t want to choose one of the colors that are used in the current campaign to enter the U.N. — blue, green or orange.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not specified yet whether Shih would travel aboard President Chen’s airplane. It was said that Taiwan should be treated on an equal footing with other APEC members, but in order to avoid China’s alleged interference, the decision regarding the plane that will be used by Shih would be released at the last minute.

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