TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) was placed next to Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and United States Vice President Kamala Harris at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok Friday (Nov. 18).

While a sign placed on the table in front of him read “Chinese Taipei,” his seating between Singapore and the U.S. showed the alphabetical order was counting him by the letter "T" for Taiwan or Taipei. It was the sixth time Chang, 91, had been chosen to attend the annual event, as pressure from China does not allow the president of Taiwan to take part.

The noon break would provide opportunities for the leaders to have more private talks, which were likely to include guests from non-APEC members, such as French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

During the afternoon, he was scheduled to attend APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) discussions with the leaders of Japan, Indonesia, and Peru, before meeting with Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn during the evening, the Liberty Times reported.

For the first day of closed-door talks between the 21 APEC leaders, Chang was seated relatively close to Lee at one corner of a large rectangular table. The U.S. vice president sat further away, beyond the corner, while Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平) was placed far away from Chang at the other end of the table, per the Liberty Times.