Taiwan confirmed Wednesday that a "special envoy" from China had delivered a letter inviting Taiwan to an APEC summit in Beijing, as hopes faded of a historic meeting between their leaders at the event.

Local media said the envoy was Gong Qinggai, deputy director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, who flew to Taipei to deliver the invitation.

The foreign ministry said special envoys had been sent in the past to Taiwan to deliver invitations to meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Ministry spokeswoman Anna Kao did not name the envoy. And President Ma Ying-jeou's office declined to say who from Taiwan would attend the summit.

Wang Yu-chi, chairman of Taiwan's top China-policy planning body the Mainland Affairs Council, for the first time in February urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to meet Ma on the sidelines of the meeting in November.

President Ma voiced the hope again last week.

China responded coolly, fearing any such leaders' meeting at an international forum could give the impression Beijing recognises the island as an independent state.

Taiwanese leaders in the past were barred from APEC summits due to objections from China, which regards the island as part of its territory. Taiwan was represented by senior economic advisers or business leaders.

But Lien Chan, vice president from 1996 to 2000, represented Taiwan at the 2008 APEC meeting -- the highest-level official ever to do so.

This was seen as a reflection of warming ties between Taipei and Beijing, following the election of the China-friendly Ma earlier that year. Ma was re-elected in 2012.

China still considers Taiwan part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. The island has ruled itself since splitting from the mainland in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Fringe Philippine politician arrested over anti-China bomb plot
Manila (AFP) Sept 03, 2014 - A fringe Philippine politician with a reputation for bizarre protests was arrested Wednesday over his suspected involvement in a foiled anti-Chinese bomb plot, authorities said.

Elly Velez Pamatong, who was declared a nuisance candidate and disqualified from running for president in 2004, was arrested after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said investigators were looking into the possibility he was behind the failed bombings.

"I can confirm the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) is looking into the possible involvement of Pamatong," de Lima told reporters.

She said that Pamatong himself admitted he knew the three men arrested on Monday after the NBI found a van with improvised explosives at Manila's main international airport.

The three were reportedly planning a series of attacks against the Chinese embassy and businesses owned by ethnic Chinese tycoons.

Shortly after de Lima's statements, NBI director Virgilio Mendez said that Pamatong had been arrested at the Manila airport upon arrival from the southern Philippines.

He was arrested based on a warrant issued in 2013 over a 2004 incident where Pamatong's followers scattered spikes on Manila's main thoroughfare, puncturing the tyres of passing vehicles to protest his disqualification as a presidential candidate.

Asked if they would use the arrest to question him about the bomb plot, Mendez said it was part of their "investigative intelligence technique".

Pamatong has previously headed a group seeking US statehood for the Philippines and in 2008 filed a suit against Pope Benedict XVI accusing him of human rights violations.

He has also taken part in anti-Chinese protests in the past.

Justice Secretary de Lima warned "we may laugh at these details but whether these are comic characters or pranksters, we should not belittle them".

"What if they succeeded and caused harm or death? The fact that they contemplated such activities is more than enough to put us on guard," she added.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino's spokesman Herminio Coloma said the government had assured China that it would make all efforts to safeguard their nationals despite the new threat.

"Our Department of Foreign Affairs sent an official 'note verbale' to China through their embassy here to assure them of the security of their facilities and people," he said.