Senior Taiwan official makes rare trip to China

Taiwan's labour minister travelled to China for an APEC ministerial meeting on Sunday (September 20, 2026), the first such trip by a senior Taiwanese government official since President Lai Ching-te took office two years ago.

China claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to take the self-ruled island by force if necessary.

Beijing has branded Lai -- whose Democratic Progressive Party rejects China's sovereignty claims over Taiwan -- as an independence separatist and has halted formal communication with Taipei for a decade.

With China hosting this year's APEC, there were concerns that Taiwan could be blocked from participating in the international forum.

Taiwan's labour minister Hung Sun-han took a 5:50 pm (0950 GMT) flight on Sunday (September 20, 2026) to the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, where he will attend meetings on Monday (September 21, 2026) before returning home, his ministry said.