by WorldTribune Staff, January 9, 2023
Taiwan has formally requested to be included in World Trade Organization (WTO) discussions centered on China’s protest against U.S. sanctions on advanced chips.
U.S.-imposed export controls aim to limit communist China’s ability to develop a domestic semiconductor industry and equip its military. China has filed a dispute with the WTO in an effort to overturn the export controls.
In filing its request to joint the WTO discussions, Taiwan’s Office of Trade Negotiations said it has no intention of supporting China’s complaint, nor does the move imply “any dissatisfaction with the United States’ measures.”
Taiwan produces the vast majority of the world’s most advanced semiconductors.
Japan and the Netherlands have agreed in principle to join the U.S. in tightening controls over the export of advanced chip tech to China, and they are likely to adopt at least some of the sweeping measures rolled out in October to restrict the sale of equipment to Chinese firms, Bloomberg News reported.
The communist regime in Beijing has paused its massive chip investments amid a nationwide Covid resurgence which has strained it finances.
With no other viable option for getting the advanced chips it needs to equip its military, it is conceivable that China’s next move could be a military takeover of Taiwan.
Related: The Taiwan prize — China lusts after island nation’s global semiconductor powerhouse, September 9, 2021
By taking over Taiwan, “China would effectively seize the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology on the planet and propel itself as the world leader in all areas dependent on high-tech silicon,” Richard N. Madden wrote for WorldTribune.com in September 2021.
“Given the Chinese leadership’s long-term outlook, any short-term fallout from a takeover of Taipei, from its point of view, could be ignored. The U.S. and its allies must strengthen their position within East Asia to stop China. Unchecked Chinese aggression will have devastating consequences on the global semiconductor supply chain with ripple effects heavily disrupting our way of life.”
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