Washington’s top Taiwan affairs official last week affirmed Taiwan’s “leading role” in the global high-tech industry during a forum on bilateral business collaboration.
Continued development of trade relations between Taiwan and the US would strengthen supply chain resiliency in response to the Chinese economic threat, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for China, Taiwan and Mongolia Rick Waters said in a recorded address in Columbus, Ohio, on Wednesday.
Waters was speaking at the Taiwan-US Business Roundtable Forum in the Midwest, held for the first time in Ohio.
Photo: Still frame grab from the recorded speech
Themed “Innovation and High-tech Global Supply Chains,” this year’s edition of the forum was jointly organized by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago, JobsOhio, the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and the Taiwan Trade Center of Chicago.
Considering Ohio’s importance in manufacturing and the automobile industry, participants in the two panels discussed high-tech supply chains and how to enhance economic partnerships on innovative technologies such as chip design and electric vehicles.
In attendance were Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴); Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted; US Representative Steve Chabot, who is a founding cochair of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus; Ohio Chamber of Commerce president and chief executive officer Steve Stivers; and a variety of business representatives.
Standing in for US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Waters hailed recent developments in Taiwan-US trade cooperation, including the second Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue held in November last year and the resumption of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement talks.
Especially in light of Russia’s war in Ukraine, the need for like-minded partners such as Taiwan and the US to work together to address the dangers of authoritarianism is greater than ever, he said.
In his address, Stivers brought up Intel’s planned US$20 billion investment to make Ohio a regional hub for semiconductor manufacturing, a sector in which Taiwan is a top player.
Nations with similar ideals should work together to create mutual economic and technological benefits, he said, while other speakers called for Taiwan’s inclusion in the US’ proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS