Report: China rejects Taiwan president's appointed stand-in at APEC summit

TAIPEI (AP) - China has blocked a former Taiwanese vice premier from representing the island at a major regional summit because she had once tried to edge Taiwan toward independence, a newspaper reported on Sunday.

Tsai Ing-wen, an economic specialist and trade negotiator who stepped down as vice premier in a cabinet shake up in May, had been selected by President Chen Shui-bian as his stand-in at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit to be held in Australia next month.

China, which considers the self-ruled island a part of its territory, opposes Taiwanese leaders taking part in international conferences including APEC.