Taiwan has asked to join discussions centered on China’s protest against US semiconductor sanctions at the WTO, seeking a voice in a debate that could have ramifications for the global chip industry.
Taipei has formally requested a seat at the table when consultations begin, based on the outsized role it plays in global chipmaking, the government said in a statement filed at the WTO.
China filed a dispute with the WTO in an effort to overturn US-imposed export controls, which aim to limit its ability to develop a domestic semiconductor industry and equip its military.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing accused Washington of economic protectionism, undermining trade rules and jeopardizing the global supply chain.
The US has pressured allies from Seoul to Tokyo to go along with the restrictions on China.
Taipei’s goal in seeking to join the WTO negotiations is to better understand how the dispute might affect global semiconductors, the Office of Trade Negotiations said in a statement yesterday.
Taiwan produces the vast majority of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, and its largest companies, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), have abided by the US curbs.
“Taiwan is requesting to join the consultation procedure to understand the supply-demand situation of chips,” the agency said.
The nation has no intention of supporting China’s complaint, nor does the move imply “any dissatisfaction with the United States’ measures,” it added.
US trade officials said they plan to travel to Taipei for trade talks later this month.
Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle to join the US in tightening controls over the export of advanced chip tech to China, and they are likely to adopt at least some of the sweeping measures rolled out in October to restrict the sale of equipment to Chinese firms.
However, even if China is successful with its case, the WTO lacks the ability to force the US to reverse its actions. Coupled with domestic economic turmoil, the curbs have hobbled a plethora of China’s biggest chip firms.
China’s semiconductor firms are facing new challenges at home with Beijing now shying away from lavishing them with colossal resources, as was done in the past.
It is pausing massive chip investments as a nationwide COVID-19 resurgence strains the world’s No. 2 economy and Beijing’s finances, and top officials are discussing alternatives to costly subsidies that have not rendered concrete results, but instead encouraged graft and the US sanctions.
MUSICAL INTERLUDE: During the altercations, KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin at one point pulled out a flute and started to play the national anthem A massive brawl erupted between governing and opposition lawmakers in the main chamber of the legislature in Taipei yesterday over legislative reforms. President-elect William Lai (賴清德) is to be inaugurated on Monday, but his Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost its majority in the legislature and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has been working with the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) to promote their mutual ideas. The opposition parties said the legislative reforms would enable better oversight of the Executive Yuan, including a proposal to criminalize officials who are deemed to make false statements in the legislature. “The DPP does not want this to be
Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘TOO LATE’: Yu Pei-chen, a Taoyuan councilor and ex-army general, said the Chinese officials were 41 years late in imposing sanctions on him, as he enlisted in 1983 China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) yesterday announced sanctions against five Taiwanese politicians, pundits and public figures critical of Beijing, accusing them of spreading disinformation about China. The five are: Liu Bao-jie (劉寶傑), Lee Zheng-hao (李正皓), Wang Yi-chuan (王義川), Yu Pei-chen (于北辰), Huang Shih-tsung (黃世聰), TAO spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) told a routine news briefing, adding that the sanctions included their families. They were responsible for making up and spreading false information about China that “deceived some Taiwanese, sowed division ... and harmed brotherly goodwill across the Strait,” Chen said. Speech is not free from the regulations of Chinese law, which punishes manufacturing incorrect