Mon, Sep 16, 2024 page3

• Taiwan’s security key to global safety, expert says

  • By William Hetherington / Staff writer
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  Taiwan’s security is key to global security, Academia Sinica Institute of Sociology researcher Wu Jieh-min (吳介民) said about the “Silicon Shield 2.0” strategy he introduced at a security forum last month.

  It aims to ensure the security of the Taiwan Strait, allow Taiwan to fully integrate into the international production network and enhance its role in global economic security, because Taiwan’s success is the key to global stability, he said.

  “In a world of interdependent semiconductors, the security of one country is the security of all countries,” Wu said. “The semiconductor supply chain is the lifeline of the competition between the US and China. It is not just a technological race; it is a battle for strategic dominance.”

  

  A silicon wafer is displayed at the Semicon Taiwan trade show in Taipei on Sept. 15, 2022.

  Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE

  Wu said the “Silicon Shield” theory posits that the world’s dependence on chips from Taiwan might serve to deter Chinese aggression. However, that dependence might also cause Beijing to covet Taipei’s chip production facilities, which would motivate aggression, he said, adding that another possibility is that China would disregard the chips altogether and attack Taiwan for other reasons.

  Those possibilities affect strategic views and interests about Taiwan’s security and have a significant impact on global security, he said.

  The importance of Taiwan’s chips to the global economy would force major powers, especially the US, to potentially intervene to protect vital lines of defense in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan.

  Although China has developed its own semiconductor industry, disrupting global supply chains could cause greater harm to the US and its allies than to China, so the possibility of asymmetric damage must also be considered, Wu said.

  The US hopes to strengthen its own chip manufacturing capabilities and reduce the risk of over-reliance on a single source, but this strategy is far from a quick fix, Wu said, adding that bringing semiconductor manufacturing to the US is challenging, costly and time-consuming.

  In the meantime, the world would continue to rely on Taiwan’s semiconductors, he said.

  “That is why the top priority is to ensure security across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.

  Taiwan must also play a more active role internationally and global investments should be seen as an extension of Taiwan’s influence, he said.

  “These investments are in the strategic interest of the US and its allies, and Taiwan and the West deepening their interdependence, would strengthen supply chain resilience,” he said.

  The deeper Taiwan’s interdependence with democratic societies around the world, the more urgent the need for economic and security cooperation. However, Taiwan’s international support network is largely bilateral and informal, and cannot cope with increasingly complex geopolitics, he said.

  Wu said that to create a safe and resilient semiconductor ecosystem, a comprehensive strategy is needed.

  “Silicon Shield 2.0 provides a roadmap to enhance Taiwan’s role in economic security,” he said. “Taiwan’s success is key to global stability and proves that in a world of interdependent semiconductors, one country’s security is the security of all.”
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