To attract TSMC, countries should seek cwan floser ties with Taiwan: FM Wu
ROC Central News Agency
06/19/2023 05:10 PM
Brussels, June 18 (CNA) Countries looking to attract investment by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) should consider the broader picture of their relations with Taiwan, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said recently.
Responding to reporters' questions during his current trip to Europe, Wu said Taiwan had not set any specific conditions regarding TSMC's overseas investments, and that if Europe provided attractive incentives to the chipmaker, Taiwan's government would not stand in the way.
There is, however, a "philosophical issue," Wu said, when asked what Taipei would "expect" in return for approving TSMC's plans to build a new plant in Germany.
If other countries want Taiwan's help with semiconductors, they should also consider the broader picture of their relations with Taiwan, he told reporters from CNA and other media outlets.
"I think that is something for us to think about," he said in English. "Even though we are not selfish in stopping TSMC from making investment in other countries, we certainly hope that other countries who want to attract TSMC ... can also think about the situation Taiwan is in."
He said Taiwan's relations with Europe had developed "tremendously" in recent years, citing the large number of visits parliamentary delegations and statements by senior European Union officials on the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
At the same time, however, there has been no official EU acknowledgement of Wu's visit, and a recent survey of residents of 11 EU member states found that 62 percent wanted their countries to remain neutral in the event of a conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.
Regarding that apparent discrepancy, Wu said many European countries had long tried to maintain "strategic neutrality" in international affairs, but that might now be changing, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed them to take sides.
The same logic can also be applied to the situation between the U.S. and China, he argued.
"If China initiated any aggression against other countries [and began] killing innocent people, violating international laws, causing atrocities ... and the United States was trying to help, I don't think the European countries [would remain neutral]," Wu said.
He said some people in Taiwan have also been calling for their own country to adopt a more neutral stance on the U.S.-China rivalry, but that is a misguided view, since "China is threatening Taiwan, and the U.S. is providing support."
"I think that kind of [neutral] position invites China to initiate aggression against Taiwan," he said.
When asked what role Europe can play in deterring China, Wu said he hoped it would continue to warn against any unilateral change of the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
The EU can also make clear that China would face economic sanctions for any acts of aggression against Taiwan, while individual nations can help by continuing to conduct freedom of navigation exercises in the region, Wu said.
In terms of the overall European policy toward China, which will be discussed by the bloc's leaders at a summit later this month, Wu said many countries have begun talking about "de-risking" their economic ties with Beijing.
Given that Taiwan has been dealing for years with the threat of China weaponizing trade relations, "we will be happy to share our experience" with the EU or any European countries that may want to discuss how to mitigate such risks, Wu said.
(By Tien Hsi-ju and Matthew Mazzetta)
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