Taiwan’s chip sector is vital to help the US maintain a technology edge over China, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a hearing of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on Tuesday.
Senators quizzed Blinken about whether the US would help Taiwan if it were attacked by China, especially given the nation’s importance in the global semiconductor industry.
Blinken said that the US has a significant advantage over China in its ability to produce high-end semiconductors and there are a few countries, including Taiwan, that are critical components of that ability.
Photo: Reuters
The US is taking significant steps with Taiwan, Japan and the Netherlands, among others, to make sure “the highest-end semiconductors are not transferred to China, or China does not get the technology to manufacture them,” he said.
“Taiwan is integral to that,” he added.
The question from US Senator Robert Menendez, who said he was asked on a recent trip to Taiwan, Australia and Japan whether the US could meet the demands of its strategic competition with China without a clear economic and trade agenda in the region.
If China were to control Taiwan, which produces 90 percent of all high-end semiconductors, “the world would be in a world of hurt,” Menendez said.
Given those circumstances, if the US did not help Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, it would send a message to other countries that if Washington “didn’t do it for Taiwan, they’re not going to do it for us,” he said.
US Senator Jim Risch urged Blinken to do more to help Taiwan.
“We started too late in providing security assistance to Ukraine,” Risch said. “We cannot make the same mistake with Taiwan. Supporting an island during the war is much more difficult. Our assistance must be there beforehand.”
Blinken said that the US is determined that Taiwan would have “all necessary means to defend itself against any potential aggression, including unilateral action by China to disrupt the status quo” that has been in place for many decades.
In addition to arms sales to Taiwan, the US has expedited third-party transfers to support an indigenous defense capability and is focused on helping Taiwan as it improves its asymmetric capabilities, he said.
TAIWAN PROTECTION MEASURE: US Army General Charles Flynn would not say where in the Asia-Pacific the missiles would be sent, but only that they would arrive in 2024 The US is to send medium-range missiles including the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) and Tomahawk to the Asia-Pacific next year to deter a Chinese attack on Taiwan, US military news Web site Defense One reported. The report cited comments US Army General Charles Flynn made during the annual Halifax International Security Forum on Nov. 19. “We have tested them and we have a battery or two of them today,” Flynn was quoted as saying. “In [20]24. We intend to deploy that system in your region. I’m not going to say where and when. But I will just say that we will
UNUSUAL UPTICK: There are more flu-like illnesses in northern China than in the past 3 years, but data from Beijing showed that known pathogens are responsible Responding to an uptick in respiratory illnesses in China, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it has instructed international airport and port quarantine centers to raise their alert levels, and plans to issue an alert to healthcare practitioners. The number of flu-like illnesses reported in northern China has been increasing for five consecutive weeks, and is higher than the same period in the past three years, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said. “According to the WHO’s latest statement, issued yesterday, information provided by Chinese government showed that the illnesses were mainly reported among children, and the illnesses were attributed
LOYALTY: The 10 active and retired soldiers betrayed the nation and its people by leaking and passing on military secrets to China, the High Prosecutors’ Office said Ten former and current military officers were yesterday indicted on charges of spying for China, including two who allegedly filmed themselves pledging loyalty to Beijing. The High Prosecutors’ Office requested life imprisonment for the suspects in light of the severity of the crime. The 10 active-duty and retired officers included members of the 601st Brigade of the Aviation Special Forces comprising attack helicopter squadrons and elite combat units in charge of defending northern Taiwan, including Taipei. The other suspects came from Huadong Defense Command, in charge of defending the eastern coast; Kinmen Defense Command, in charge of defending Kinmen and Matsu; and one
‘OPEN TO DIALOGUE’: Her alliance with Vice President William Lai is based on their commitment to preserve the nation’s freedom and democracy, Hsiao Bi-khim said Taiwan should “trust, but verify” reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) denied that Beijing plans to invade Taiwan in 2027, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice presidential candidate Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told reporters yesterday. “We anticipate and we hope that Chairman Xi Jinping was sincere when he said there was no timetable” for bringing Taiwan under control by force, said Hsiao, who earlier this week resigned as the representative to the US to join the ticket of DPP nominee, Vice President William Lai (賴清德). Borrowing a phrase from former US president Ronald Reagan — which US President Joe Biden also used after
RSS