Taiwan officials urge US to calm rhetoric about ‘unsafe’ chip reliance in event of a Chinese invasion
- Taiwanese officials have urged American counterparts through backchannels to tone down their rhetoric about the dangers of relying on TSMC chips
- Nervousness in Taiwan highlights the conundrum officials face in maintaining the island’s role as home to 90 per cent of the world’s advanced semiconductors
Spooked by the threat that China might invade Taiwan, the US wants to cut its dependence on the island’s world-beating microchips. Officials in Taipei believe the Biden administration is going too far.
The officials are particularly unhappy with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who has called US dependence on Taiwanese chips “untenable” and “unsafe”. They were also uneasy with remarks by a top Republican lawmaker, Michael McCaul, during a recent trip to Taipei. He said Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is a strategic asset that’s “very vulnerable to invasion”.
“The window’s closing,” McCaul said about a US push to move the chips supply chain out of Taiwan. “We don’t have a whole lot of time.”
Taiwan’s concerns were described by people familiar with the government’s stance who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.