SHANGHAI, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Taiwan announced Friday that it has decided to withdraw from the APEC summit this weekend in Shanghai, China, after disputes over who is allowed to attend culminated in recriminations from both sides.
"I feel deep regret and dissatisfaction that the People's Republic of China has ignored APEC practice and failed to send an envoy to deliver an invitation to us, which has forced us to be absent from the summit," Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian said in an address aired on local television.
Chen also asked other APEC members to "condemn" Beijing for its "suppression" of Taiwan in the international body.
China on Friday said it received the news with "regret" and that it had welcomed Taiwan to the summit.
"China has repeatedly expressed its welcome of Chinese Taipei to participate in the APEC Leaders Meeting in Shanghai and other APEC activities and has issued invitations," said a statement from China's foreign ministry in Shanghai.
The dispute revolves around the sensitive issue of who can be sent by the island, which under an APEC memorandum is supposed to send an economic minister.
Taiwan's President Chen chose former vice president Li Yuanzu, one of his closest economic advisers, to attend the meeting. Beijing decided that Li was unacceptable since he was not in a decision making position and did not issue a formal invitation to him.
The issue has been brewing for months as Taiwan and China argued publicly over the island's delegate.
Both governments are sensitive to being together at international gatherings of any kind and Beijing usually manages to ensure that the country is referred to as "Chinese Taipei" if they are to be included at all.
China considers Taiwan a renegade province and claims sovereignty over the island often threatening to use force to reintegrate the territory. Taiwan is one of the largest economies in the region and has been present at all previous APEC meetings since its inception in 1989. This summit is the first to be held in China.
