Taiwan Rep. to the EU gives interview to Dutch’s NOS

2024/03/06

Taiwan Representative to the EU and Belgium Roy Chun Lee reiterated the importance of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry and said that cross-strait peace and stability is intertwined with global economic prosperity.
 
Lee made the remarks during his tenure as deputy foreign minister in an interview last December in Taipei City with Sjoerd den Daas for a program that aired March 2 in the NOS, the largest Netherlands news organization.
 
Although over 90 percent of the world’s high-end chips are produced in Taiwan, countries like Germany, Japan and the U.S. are competing for Hsinchu City-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to set up plants in their countries, which would accelerate decentralization of global supply chains, Lee said.
 
The strength of Taiwan’s semiconductor sector not only lies in cutting-edge technology, but also in trust from trading partners, the representative said, adding that China may not gain similar trust even though it can make huge financial investments.
 
According to Lee, it is the values ​​of freedom and democracy that deter China from assaulting Taiwan, not just the country’s semiconductors. He added that the possibility of Beijing launching military action is not currently high due to its ongoing domestic economic and social problems.
 
However, if a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait or China imposes a blockade on Taiwan, both the European and world economy would be seriously impacted, Lee said. He urged democracies to work more closely to increase potential penalties incurred were there to be an invasion of Taiwan.


Source: Noticias de Taiwan (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)