Taiwan plans to keep making the “most advanced” chips on home soil and remain “indispensable” to the global semiconductor industry, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) told reporters on Wednesday.
Taiwan makes more than half of the world’s chips, and nearly all of the most advanced ones, that power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Its dominance of the industry has long been seen as a “silicon shield” protecting it from an invasion or blockade by China and an incentive for the US to defend it.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA
However, the threat of a Chinese attack has fueled concerns about potential disruptions to global supply chains and has increased pressure for more chip production beyond Taiwan’s shores.
“We will try to maintain the most advanced technology in Taiwan, and to be sure that Taiwan continues to play an indispensable role” in the semiconductor ecosystem, Wu told reporters in an interview. “I think it’s the same logic for every country, even countries not under such a very complicated geopolitical situation.”
China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan in recent years, deploying on an almost daily basis fighter jets and warships around the nation. Taiwan has responded by increasing defense spending to upgrade its military equipment and improve its ability to wage asymmetric warfare.
Taiwan does not have enough land, water or energy to accommodate the fabrication plants needed to meet soaring demand for chips, “so step by step we enlarge our investment in the world, but still linking with Taiwan,” said Wu, who was previously the representative to France.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest chipmaker, has already invested in fabs in the US, Japan and Germany.
Earlier this year, the firm pledged to spend an additional US$100 billion on US chip plants, as US President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on overseas-made semiconductors.
However, replicating TSMC’s factories in the US is full of challenges, Wu said, citing Taiwan’s “very special culture to make the semiconductors very well.”
The best way to reduce risks to the chip industry was not to move fabs abroad but to “prevent the war,” Wu said.
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick recently said he had proposed to Taiwan a 50-50 split in chip production, an idea that Taipei rejected.
While Washington is Taiwan’s most important security backer, some of Trump’s comments about the nation and his flip-flopping on Ukraine have raised doubts over his willingness to defend it.
However, Wu expressed confidence that the US, as well as Europe, would respond to a Chinese attack on Taiwan in order to protect their “national interest” in the region.
“It just happens that your interest and Taiwan’s interest we share together,” Wu said.
Those interests include the semiconductor industry, but also peace and freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, which is a key international shipping route, he said.
“I think Donald Trump understands better and better, day by day, the strategic importance of Taiwan... and will defend American interests in his own way,” Wu said. “We are the core interest of China, but we are also a core interest of the US.”
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
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