Taiwan did not provide funds and technology to produce 8-inch wafers to Lithuania to cultivate ties with Vilnius, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, denying accusations by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wang Hong-wei (王鴻薇).
Wang earlier yesterday told a news conference in Taipei that she received information that Taiwan provided Lithuania with “subsidies” that were not in accordance with common diplomatic practice.
Taiwan in October 2021 signed a memorandum with Lithuania to cooperate in the semiconductor industry by jointly investing in a Lithuanian company, she said.
Photo: CNA
Lithuania later asked Taiwan to provide 14 million euros (US$15.3 million), more than double the 6.5 million euros originally agreed on, including a 6.2 million euro technology transfer fee to be paid to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Wang said.
The ministry in a statement called Wang’s comments a “false accusation” that would “trample on the efforts of Taiwan’s diplomats and economic and trade personnel, as well as hurt the friendship between Taiwan and Lithuania.”
The cooperation between the two countries was based on Taiwan’s mature semiconductor technologies and Lithuania’s world-leading laser technologies, the ministry said.
The funds from the two sides were to help Lithuania build its semiconductor capabilities, not build a semiconductor plant, it said.
Lithuania would fund development of the industry, the statement said.
The ITRI signed a contract with a large-scale Lithuanian technology company designated by its government to authorize the use of related technology, which could help boost the global influence of Taiwan’s technology and industry, it said.
Taiwan and Lithuania are democratic partners that fight against authoritarian expansionism together, it said, adding that the two sides are boosting democratic resilience and economic ties through industrial cooperation.
The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was opened in 2021, the first office in Europe to be called Taiwanese, it said.
Despite facing political and economic pressure from Beijing over its decision to allow the use of the word “Taiwanese,” Lithuania stands strong and continues to improve ties with Taiwan, the ministry said.
Taipei and Vilnius are reliable and solid partners, it said, vowing to continue to deepen the cooperation with Lithuania and to promote a sustainable and resilient partnership.
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