President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for the signing of an economic partnership agreement with the EU, saying it would boost cooperation in semiconductors and that, as democracies, the two sides should be working together.
Taiwan has pushed for the signing of investment and trade deals with the EU, in what would be politically significant for Taiwan given its diplomatic isolation and general exclusion from most global bodies and agreements.
For its part, the EU has been courting Taiwan as a “like-minded” partner under the European Chips Act to encourage more semiconductor production in Europe and lessen dependence on Asia, despite the lack of formal ties.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Speaking at the annual EU investment forum in Taipei, Lai said that facing the threat of expanding authoritarianism, Taiwan and the EU must form a “strong democratic umbrella” and build secure supply chains for global democracies.
“Looking to the future, Taiwan hopes to take an innovative approach toward the signing of an economic partnership agreement with the EU,” he said.
Such an agreement would lay a sound institutional basis for further cooperation in fields such as semiconductors and artificial intelligence, he added.
“This would not only make both our economies more resilient and secure, but also ensure the stable operation of global supply chains,” he said.
Taiwanese investment in the EU has been anchored by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which in August broke ground on a major new chip plant in Dresden, Germany, expected to be a key supplier to European industry and automakers.
Maria Martin-Prat, deputy head of the European Commission’s directorate-general for trade, made no mention of signing such a deal with Taiwan in a video message to the investment event, although she did praise bilateral relations.
“Taiwan, a vibrant democracy with an open economy, is a trusted partner for us to promote our economic security,” she said.
Taiwan has few free-trade agreements, although last year it signed an Enhanced Trade Partnership with the UK and has applied to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to start construction of its 1.4-nanometer chip manufacturing facilities at the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP, 中部科學園區) as early as October, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported yesterday, citing the park administration. TSMC acquired land for the second phase of the park’s expansion in Taichung in June. Large cement, construction and facility engineering companies in central Taiwan have reportedly been receiving bids for TSMC-related projects, the report said. Supply-chain firms estimated that the business opportunities for engineering, equipment and materials supply, and back-end packaging and testing could reach as high as
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
Democratic nations should refrain from attending China’s upcoming large-scale military parade, which Beijing could use to sow discord among democracies, Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Shen You-chung (沈有忠) said. China is scheduled to stage the parade on Wednesday next week to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. The event is expected to mobilize tens of thousands of participants and prominently showcase China’s military hardware. Speaking at a symposium in Taichung on Thursday, Shen said that Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) recently met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a visit to New Delhi.
RSS