China will host the APEC summit in November in Shenzhen, and Taiwan's role in it is once again shaped by the political mood between Beijing and Taipei.

• Taiwan's labor minister Hung Sun-han has been invited to a ministerial meeting in Nanjing this month, making him the first minister from the Lai government to travel to China.
• Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office says it will handle Taiwan's participation under the "one China principle"; Taipei counters that its 1991 entry papers contain no such wording and grant it equal footing.
• Taiwan has already attended eight APEC meetings in Chinese cities this year, covering trade, finance, tourism and women in the economy.
• History cuts both ways: Taiwan boycotted the 2001 Shanghai summit after Beijing stalled on an invitation, but in 2014 its envoy met Xi Jinping in Beijing during a warmer period.
• Shenzhen was picked to showcase the Greater Bay Area, which is hosting four of the eleven APEC host cities.

Outlook: Watch whether Beijing lets Taiwan send a leader's representative to Shenzhen or uses the host role to squeeze Taipei's presence.