The US is working with Taiwan to restructure global supply chains under the shared values of transparency and accountability, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen said, according to a transcript released by AIT yesterday.
Christensen made the remarks on Tuesday at the International Investment Forum in Taipei hosted by the Mergers and Acquisitions and Private Equity Council of Taiwan.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the risks of over-reliance on one country or supplier for critical materials, such as medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, and for industries that are of strategic importance to shared economies, Christensen said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Washington aims to diversify and bring supply chains closer to end users, and ensure that countries like China do not hold supply chains hostage for political purposes, he said.
The US works with like-minded partners, including Taiwan, Japan and the EU, to develop new supply chains based on shared values, he added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) plans to boost investment in the US send “an unmistakable signal that the future of high-tech supply chains remains in the US-Taiwan nexus,” Christensen said.
Highlighting the importance of accountability, transparency, reciprocity, respect for the rule of law and human rights, he said: “We would call these American values. We would also call them Taiwan values.”
At another forum in Taipei yesterday, the AIT and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US issued a joint declaration on 5G security, echoing the Prague Proposals.
The Prague Proposals resulted from a 5G security conference hosted by the Czech Republic in May last year, and attended by officials and experts from more than 30 countries.
The US’ 5G Clean Path, announced by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in April, is an end-to-end communication that does not use any transmission, control, computing, or storage equipment from extremely problematic, untrusted IT vendors, such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and ZTE Corp (中興), Christensen said at yesterday’s forum.
The joint statement said that 5G suppliers should provide products and services that enable fair competition and downstream development by the maximum number of market participants.
It listed four criteria for evaluating 5G suppliers: Network hardware and software suppliers should not be subject, without independent judicial review, to control by a foreign government; suppliers should be financed openly and transparently; they should have transparent ownership, partnerships and corporate governance structures; and they should exemplify a commitment to innovation and respect for intellectual property rights.
Taiwan, on the front line of cyberdefense, has pre-emptively excluded hardware and software with cybersecurity risks, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said.
All of Taiwan’s 5G suppliers — Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) and Taiwan Star Telecom Co (台灣之星) — are listed in the US’ Clean Path, showing that Taiwan is a trustworthy partner, he said.
The joint declaration signals that Taiwan-US cooperation in protecting cybersecurity has become institutionalized, Wu said, adding that Taiwan would continue to work with the US and other like-minded countries to develop 5G network standards.
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday released the first video documenting the submerged sea trials of Taiwan’s indigenous defense submarine prototype, the Hai Kun (海鯤), or Narwhal, showing underwater navigation and the launch of countermeasures. The footage shows the vessel’s first dive, steering and control system tests, and the raising and lowering of the periscope and antenna masts. It offered a rare look at the progress in the submarine’s sea acceptance tests. The Hai Kun carried out its first shallow-water diving trial late last month and has since completed four submerged tests, CSBC said. The newly released video compiles images recorded from Jan. 29 to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to make advanced 3-nanometer chips in Japan, stepping up its semiconductor manufacturing roadmap in the country in a triumph for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s technology ambitions. TSMC is to adopt cutting-edge technology for its second wafer fab in Kumamoto, company chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. That is an upgrade from an original blueprint to produce 7-nanometer chips by late next year, people familiar with the matter said. TSMC began mass production at its first plant in Japan’s Kumamoto in late 2024. Its second fab, which is still under construction, was originally focused on
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The partisan standoff over President William Lai’s (賴清德) proposed defense budget has raised questions about the nation’s ability to adequately fund its own defense, the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) said in a report released on Tuesday. The report, titled Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, said the government has increased its defense budget at an average annual rate of 5 percent from 2019 to 2023, with about 2.5 percent of its GDP spent on defense in 2024. Lai in November last year proposed a special budget of about US$40 billion over eight years, and said he intends to increase defense spending to
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