Taiwan is entering a new technological “golden age,” American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said in an interview on Thursday, reflecting on the challenges and opportunities Taiwan faces.
Greene in July replaced Sandra Oudkirk as head of the AIT, which functions as Washington’s de facto embassy in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic relations. He had served as deputy chief of the institute’s political section from 2002 to 2005, and as deputy director under Oudkirk’s predecessor, Brent Christensen, from 2018 to 2021.
Greene said he has seen “quite a bit of change related to both the opportunities and risks” in the 20 years he has been in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
“I see a lot of energy and excitement about going into another golden age in terms of the technology sector, with the adoption of [artificial intelligence] AI,” he told the Central News Agency.
Greene said he has also seen a “greater realization of the risks and challenges Taiwan faces” at the governmental and grassroots levels.
He was referring to the government’s decision to extend compulsory military service to one year under former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the focus on whole-of-society resilience under President William Lai (賴清德) in the face of increased Chinese military coercion.
Greene reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to helping Taipei defend itself, adding that Taiwan and the US are well-positioned to collaborate on building a secure defense supply chain, in drone production in particular.
Around the world, people are realizing drones are the future of defense, disaster response, environmental monitoring and fire response, he said.
There is also a growing realization that the world is “too reliant on a single producer of drones,” as more than “90 percent of consumer drones in the world are produced in China,” Greene said.
“So there is a huge focus on how we can diversify the supply chains and create a secure supply chain to meet the demand in a secure way,” he said.
Taiwan and the US are especially “well-positioned” to partner in this field, as both have dynamic drone technology sectors, and because the future of drones is increasingly tied to the use of AI, an area where Taiwan and the US excel, Greene said.
“No two partners are better placed to lead the world in AI technology than the US and Taiwan,” Greene said, highlighting the US’ strengths in AI research and development and Taiwan’s leadership in semiconductor manufacturing.
Asked about the remarks made by former US president Donald Trump in July that Taiwan had taken away the US’ chip business, Greene said that the ongoing cooperation between the two sides in the semiconductor sector is mutually beneficial.
Taiwan “took all of [the US] chip business,” and should pay the US for defense, Trump said in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek published on July 16.
The comments sent shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and related tech shares plummeting over concerns that a Trump return to the White House could lead to cuts or the cancelation of subsidies for TSMC’s US$65 billion investment in building three advanced wafer fabs in Arizona.
Greene said AIT is a neutral organization so he would not comment on the November election, but said that “people in Taiwan should take confidence in the fact that Taiwan-US relations are very, very bipartisan.”
Greene lauded the collaboration on semiconductors as it allows the US, the world leader in chip design, and Taiwan, the maker of the world’s most advanced chips, to work together.
However, Taiwan, due to its lack of land, human resources and renewable energy, “cannot accommodate all of the demand we expect in the future, especially given the innovations of AI,” he said.
“Given just the limitations here in Taiwan, I think naturally you would see more manufacturing shifting to the US and other partners,” he said. “I think this would actually increase the overall health of the market. It would increase the resilience.”
“We do not see this as a zero-sum. In fact, this is going to benefit both sides,” he added.
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