On a Tuesday visit to the United States, Taiwan''s Economic Affairs Minister said that if Taiwan remains safe, global supply chains of vital semiconductors would also be safe.
Wang made the comments at an event hosted by Washington''s Center for Strategic and International Studies, as China intensifies military pressure on Taiwan, which produces the vast majority of the world''s most advanced computer chips.
Wang is traveling to the United States this week to discuss "concerns" about supply chains and geopolitical concerns, and to visit US tech companies that are significant customers of Taiwanese semiconductor companies.
Taiwan is keen for increased collaboration between Taiwan and the United States in order to ensure stable supply chains, according to the author.
Given Taiwan''s key role in the high-tech sector, Wang said China might be impacted if Taiwan interferes.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) is the world''s largest contract chip manufacturer, according to Wang. She cautioned that if anything happened to Taiwan, Taiwan''s impact on the global economy would be "devastating."
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"I would like to put it in another way," she said. "If Taiwan is safe, the global supply chain will also be secure. It is in the world''s greatest interest for Taiwan to continue producing at a reasonable rate."
Taiwan expressed appreciation for stronger Taiwan-US relations with the US Congress, but reaffirmed his views on US legislation to prevent China from developing semiconductor chips made with US equipment, claiming that Taiwanese companies would follow international regulations.
Taiwanese semiconductor supply chain has been "very, very concrete" as it has been established for over 40 years, according to the Taiwanese government.
"We have a very large supply chain in Taiwan, which is difficult to replicate, or difficult to repair," she said.
2022 Thomson Reuters