A former Japanese economics minister visiting Taiwan yesterday said that Taiwan, Japan and the US are establishing closer trilateral cooperation in the semiconductor industry, forming what he called a "semiconductor iron triangle."
Former Japanese minister of economy, trade and industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, a current member of the lower house of the Japanese Diet, said he came up with the phrase "semiconductor iron triangle," because global semiconductor powerhouse Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has a presence in Japan and the US.
Photo: CNA
TSMC has a factory in Kumamoto, Japan, and is building chip fabs in Arizona, Nishimura said.
TSMC's Arizona factory is using Japan-made manufacturing devices and materials, he said.
That is why the trilateral cooperation in building advanced semiconductors is heading in the right direction in strengthening global supply chains, he added.
Nishimura said he hopes with collaboration in advanced chips, Taiwan, Japan and the US can work closely in areas such as 5G, self-driving vehicles and generative artificial intelligence.
Nishimura first proposed his "semiconductor iron triangle" idea during a speech to overseas Taiwanese in Japan last month.
During that speech on April 13, Nishimura said Taiwan, Japan and the US need to closely unite to promote semiconductor development to jointly face an "arch enemy that steals semiconductor technology for military use," referring to China.
The 62-year-old Japanese politician previously served as minister of state for economic and fiscal policy, and minister of economic revitalization. He promoted bilateral cooperation between Taiwan and Japan in the semiconductor industry while heading the economy and trade office from 2022 to 2023.
Other than semiconductors and high-tech, the visiting Japanese Diet member also proposed closer Taipei-Tokyo exchanges in the energy sector.
Japan is set to take advantage of renewable energy and nuclear energy to make sure it has sufficient power supply in pushing for the advancement of new technologies, he said.
While Taiwan is phasing out nuclear energy, Taiwan and Japan can still work on renewable energy resources including solar, wind, hydrogen energy and storage batteries, he added.
Nishimura is leading a five-member parliamentary delegation from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from Saturday until today, during which he has met President William Lai (賴清德) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴).
Nishimura is joined by four other LDP representatives: Kosaburo Nishime, Kazuo Yana, Hajime Sasaki and Ryusho Kato, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Left-Handed Girl (左撇子女孩), a film by Taiwanese director Tsou Shih-ching (鄒時擎) and cowritten by Oscar-winning director Sean Baker, won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution at the Cannes Critics’ Week on Wednesday. The award, which includes a 20,000 euro (US$22,656) prize, is intended to support the French release of a first or second feature film by a new director. According to Critics’ Week, the prize would go to the film’s French distributor, Le Pacte. "A melodrama full of twists and turns, Left-Handed Girl retraces the daily life of a single mother and her two daughters in Taipei, combining the irresistible charm of
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
88.2 PERCENT INCREASE: The variants driving the current outbreak are not causing more severe symptoms, but are ‘more contagious’ than previous variants, an expert said Number of COVID-19 cases in the nation is surging, with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describing the ongoing wave of infections as “rapid and intense,” and projecting that the outbreak would continue through the end of July. A total of 19,097 outpatient and emergency visits related to COVID-19 were reported from May 11 to Saturday last week, an 88.2 percent increase from the previous week’s 10,149 visits, CDC data showed. The nearly 90 percent surge in case numbers also marks the sixth consecutive weekly increase, although the total remains below the 23,778 recorded during the same period last year,
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
RSS