TAIPEI (TVBS News) — A senior U.S. official on Friday (Aug. 28) called Taiwan a "very important economic partner" and cited its role in a U.S.-led initiative to secure artificial intelligence supply chains, delivering the remarks during a virtual press briefing from China-hosted APEC meetings in Dalian.
Casey Mace, the U.S. Senior Official to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, made the comments in response to a question from TVBS News. He specifically referenced the Pax Silica initiative, a program Washington launched in December 2025 to build a "secure, prosperous, and innovation-driven silicon supply chain."
"Taiwan has also been an important partner in some of our initiatives on the supply chain front — like the Pax Silica initiative that the United States announced last year, which is focused on the supply chain for AI and to make sure it's secure and robust," Mace said.
Taiwan formally endorsed the Pax Silica principles in January when the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT, 美國在台協會) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States signed a joint statement. A Taiwan delegation led by Deputy Minister of Digital Affairs Isabel Hou (侯宜秀) attended the second Pax Silica Summit in Washington in June.
Mace's remarks came as the United States sent what he described as its largest delegation (over 100 participants) to the two-week APEC Third Senior Officials' Meeting. The meetings took place in China, which is hosting APEC this year ahead of a leaders' summit in Shenzhen in November.
"Taiwan is a really important export market for the United States, and Taiwan is investing even more in the United States," Mace said. "And so Taiwan is a very important economic partner for us."
Mace visited Taiwan in March to discuss APEC-related issues. During that visit, Taiwan media quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) as saying Mace "reaffirmed the U.S. government's firm stance supporting Taiwan's equal and dignified participation in APEC."
Taiwan has participated in APEC for 35 years under the name "Chinese Taipei." The government has expressed concerns about this year's China-hosted meetings after Beijing said it would fulfill hosting obligations only if Taipei complies with its "one China" principle, a claim Taiwan has repeatedly rejected.
Asked whether President Trump would attend the November summit in Shenzhen, Mace said there was "nothing to announce or to confirm." He noted that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping have expressed mutual support for each other's multilateral hosting duties. ◼