The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan.
Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam.
SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities.
Photo: David J. Phillip, AP
The ministry said that it had contacted the Taiwanese suppliers cited in the Reuters report and found that none of them had received such a request from SpaceX.
The suppliers provide services to global clients and often adjust their production to meet clients’ needs, but so far they have not been asked to move their production overseas, the ministry added.
“Taiwan is capable of developing its own ground station equipment for satellite reception, and its manufacturers are highly competitive,” the ministry said.
“The ministry is not aware of any production relocation of these firms [and] has faith that any short-term political factors would not affect their ties with international satellite companies,” it added.
Faced with growing trade tensions between the US and China, escalating geopolitical unease and a global trend of economically decoupling with China, many Taiwanese suppliers have diversified their production in the global market and have become highly flexible in dealing with changes, the ministry said.
Forty-six Taiwanese component makers have entered the global satellite supply chain, covering a wide range of products, such as raw material components, printed circuit boards, wires, cables and power management solutions, it said.
Taiwanese suppliers who can develop high, medium and low Earth orbit satellite services also cater to international clients, including telecom operators and satellite equipment suppliers, the ministry added.
The electronics and information communication industries, the semiconductor business in particular, have become an indispensable part of the global supplier chain, the ministry said.
While the local electronic component industry has continued to increase production and upgrade technologies on its own to lay a good foundation for the satellite business, the government has since 2021 also assisted about 30 companies in developing ground station equipment to build robust connections with the global supply chain, the ministry said.
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