China protests Taiwan minister’s role at Seoul summit backed by US

South Korea’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond when asked about Lin’s comments.

Conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol has charted a course closer to the United States. But China is South Korea’s largest trading partner, and Yoon has also tried to plateau Beijing to avoid widespread economic blowback.

Tang’s participation in the event was not announced in advance by authorities in either Taiwan or South Korea.

A session program distributed on Monday listed only one possible video message in fine print at the end, while Tang’s ministry did not flag the appearance in her daily schedule of public events given to reporters.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said Tang’s comments were made in a pre-recorded video message. The South Korean announcer who introduced Tang’s video said she was appearing in a private capacity as an expert on the issues.

A democratic, rather than technocratic approach, is ideal to tackle the challenges of artificial intelligence, such as by mobilizing citizens to identify and counter misinformation, Tang told the gathering.

Tang’s invitation to Biden’s first democracy summit in 2021 also drew protest from China, while US officials cut short the video feed of her remarks after a map in her slide presentation swathed Taiwan in a different color from that of China.