Looking weary, Mr. Xiao Wanchang, the representative of Chinese Taipei to APEC in Beijing, proceeded slowly along the hall to where President Xi, the solemn host, was standing.  Shaking hands with Xi and posing for photo opportunity together, Xiao still wore his signature smile, yet somehow with glum visage. 

I do feel sympathetic towards Mr. Xiao, a technical bureaucrat now at 75 and also afflicted with lung cancer, for his having no alternative but taking part in a significant internaltional conference convened for leaders only, in which he is toothless for anything meaningful at all to Taiwan.  He'll face the cruel reality that Sino-Korean FTA is signed in front of him, but the similiar Service Pact and Freight Pact between Mainland and Taiwan are postponed indefinitely.  He'll also see two important regional organizations of economic cooperation, led by China and US respectively, will be set about soon, and Taiwan is completely excluded unless a tacit consent from Mainland is obtained.  Except procrastination, all Mr. Xiao and Taiwan can do is to linger on until being at his and its last gasp.  But what've made a situation like this?  You know the answers. 

The miserable sight of Mr. Xiao's back reflects the bleak outlook for Taiwan.