Taiwan Sends Cabinet Minister to China for First Time Under Lai — A Rare Crack in the Ice?

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Taiwan's Minister of Labor, Hung Sun-han, departed for China on Sunday to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Nanjing. It is the first time a sitting cabinet minister under President Lai Ching-te has traveled to mainland China, marking a notable — if narrow — exception to the otherwise frozen state of relations between Taipei and Beijing.

Hung will take part in the APEC Human Resources Development Ministerial Meeting on September 21, where delegates are expected to discuss employment policy, vocational training, social security, and the growing impact of artificial intelligence on labor markets. Taiwan's Ministry of Labor confirmed his departure but offered few further details, and Hung did not speak to reporters before leaving.

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Why This Trip Stands Out

Taiwan and China have had no direct high-level political contact for years. Beijing has repeatedly refused talks with President Lai, branding him a "separatist," while continuing near-daily military activity around the island. Lai maintains that only Taiwan's own people have the right to determine their future.

Against that backdrop, sending any cabinet minister to Chinese soil is politically sensitive. Hung is a former lawmaker for the ruling, independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and has previously spoken out on human rights issues involving Hong Kong and Tibet — making his presence in China even more striking to observers on both sides.

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APEC: One of the Few Doors Still Open

APEC is one of the rare international organizations in which Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, holds membership — under the designation "Chinese Taipei," a name also used at the Olympics. China, however, typically refers to the island as "China Taipei," a distinction Taipei's government continues to reject.

China holds the APEC chairmanship this year, with the organization's leaders' summit set for November in Shenzhen. Taiwan's president never attends that leaders-level summit in person, instead sending a former official or a prominent businessperson — TSMC founder Morris Chang has filled that role in the past. Taipei has not yet announced who will represent it at this year's Shenzhen summit.

Lower-ranking Taiwanese officials have already taken part in other APEC gatherings hosted in China this year, including an energy ministerial in Beijing and a trade ministers' meeting in Suzhou in May. Hung's trip, however, makes him the most senior Taiwanese official to attend an APEC event on the mainland this year.

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Caution From Both Sides

Ahead of his departure, Hung stressed that "equal participation and reciprocal dignity" would guide Taiwan's involvement, framing the visit strictly as a matter of exercising the island's established membership rights within a multilateral body — not as a bilateral gesture toward Beijing. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council has described the risks around the trip as "controllable," pointing to the smooth participation of Taiwanese delegates in earlier APEC meetings in China this year.

Even so, some lawmakers in Taipei have urged caution, warning that officials could face unequal or dismissive treatment while in China. Analysts covering the region have likewise cautioned against interpreting the visit as a genuine thaw or a resumption of formal exchanges between the two governments — noting that the setting is a multilateral forum, not a direct bilateral channel.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the visit.

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What Comes Next

The Nanjing meeting is unlikely to change the fundamental standoff between Taipei and Beijing on its own. But it does add to a small, growing pattern of technical-level Taiwanese participation in China-hosted APEC events this year — even as Beijing intensifies broader pressure on the island militarily and diplomatically.

The bigger test will come in November, when China hosts the APEC leaders' summit in Shenzhen. Whether Taiwan sends a business figure, a former official, or someone else entirely will be closely watched as the next signal of how far — and how carefully — Taipei is willing to engage with Beijing on the world stage.

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Sources

1. Taipei Times — "Minister of Labor to visit China for APEC meeting": https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2026/09/02/2003863533
2. South China Morning Post — "How will Beijing receive most senior Taiwan official to attend Apec events this year?": https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3368061/how-will-beijing-receive-most-senior-taiwan-official-attend-apec-events-year
3. Focus Taiwan (CNA) — "Labor minister stresses 'reciprocal dignity' ahead of China APEC meeting": https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202609150026

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