Taipei, Sept. 9 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday that he will name Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh as his personal envoy to the 2003 informal leadership meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bangkok Oct. 20-21.
Chen made the announcement while receiving an invitation to attend the meeting from Thai special envoy Chaiyasarn Parchuab at the Presidential Office.
It is unjust for the people of Taiwan that their leader cannot participate personally in the APEC summit due to obstruction by mainland China even though Taiwan is a full member of the organization, Chen said.
However, he said that Taiwan will respect the usual practice adopted over the past 10 years that the country's leader names a representative to attend the meeting on his behalf.
It is not only a right, but also an obligation, for Taiwan to take part in APEC meetings, Chen stressed, adding that the unjust situation will be broken some day and that it cannot be done by Thailand alone.
Chen thanked the Thai government for sending a high-profile envoy to Taipei to deliver the invitation.
Chen lauded Lee, who won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1986, as the best representative of the 23 million people of Taiwan.
Lee is not only a world-renowned scientist but also a humanitarian, Chen went on, adding that Lee has contributed a great deal to Taiwan's technological development and education reforms.