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.
Tropical Storm Koinu is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Wednesday through Friday as it passes through the Bashi Channel, but it remained uncertain how it would affect the weather, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am yesterday, Koinu was about 1,000km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving northwest at 12kph, the CWA said. Koinu is likely to strengthen into a typhoon today or tomorrow and turn west as it enters the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan proper, CWA forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. The storm’s trajectory is still unclear, so more time is
Taichung prosecutors yesterday indicted three people on charges of fraud for allegedly passing off watches assembled in Taiwan as Swiss-made timepieces and earning NT$400 million (US$12.4 million) in illicit gains. The Taichung branch office of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau said in a statement that the group, headed by Mei Hua Precision Industry Co (梅華精密) and Laora Trading Co (仁徠貿易) manager Yang Hung-pin (楊鴻斌), had purchased the rights to use the Swiss trademark Ogival years ago and from November 2006 to December 2020 sold 26,282 counterfeit watches in department stores and online platforms in Taiwan. The branch office said they received
PALAU LAUNCHES: The source said that Taiwanese military personnel traveled to Palau, where a US brigade watched their work amid plans for a defense network The military last month participated in live-fire launches of MM-104F Patriot (PAC-3) missiles under US observation in an undisclosed location in Palau, a step forward in a US-led plan to create a joint defense missile system in the first island chain, a source said on condition of anonymity. The PAC-3 is the mainstay surface-to-air missile of the US, NATO and democratic nations in East Asia, the source said, adding that it has never been live-tested within Taiwan’s borders, the source said. The proximity of Taiwan to China and China’s close surveillance of the nation’s borders and nearby sea zones is a significant
TRAJECTORY: Koinu’s outer rim is expected to reach Orchid Island early tomorrow and Taitung at about noon, where waves of at least 6m are forecast A sea warning for Typhoon Koinu was issued at 11:30pm last night, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that a land warning could be issued today. High waves of about 2m were observed in Taitung yesterday, while waves of 6m or higher were forecast for today, said Huang Chia-mei (黃嘉美), head of the CWA’s Taitung Weather Station. At noon yesterday, Koinu was about 660km southeast of Taitung, she said, adding that it was moving more to the north and its center could possibly make landfall. The storm’s outer rim would likely reach Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in the early hours tomorrow and
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