Taiwan says it will protect the interests of its companies in the U.S.-led Chip 4 Group.
TAIPEI A deputy minister said on Wednesday that Taiwan will use the new U.S.-led “Chip 4” group to protect the interests of Taiwanese companies and make sure the supply chain is strong. He added that the group does not yet have an agenda.
Last week, the group met for the first time, and people from Taiwan, the United States, South Korea, and Japan were there.
A shortage of semiconductors around the world has put Taiwan in the spotlight and made supply chain management a bigger priority for governments all over the world.
Related: Arm comes out with a new chip design for the cloud and the data center.
Taiwan’s Deputy Economy Minister Chen Chern-chyi told reporters in Taipei that making chips requires working together to make a “very resilient supply chain.”
“We will use that platform to try to protect the interests of our companies,” he said, adding that the group had not yet started meeting in a formal way.
President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan has said that the island is committed to making sure its partners have a steady supply of semiconductors. She has also asked Taiwan’s allies to work together more because China is making more threats.
Beijing claims Taiwan, which is run by a democratic government, as its own land. China says it owns Taiwan, but Taiwan’s government says that’s not true.
The Asian members of the “Chip 4” group are home to the world’s largest contract chip maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd, South Korean memory chip giants Samsung Electronics (OTC:SSNLF) Co Ltd and SK Hynix, and key Japanese suppliers of semiconductor materials and equipment.
The group was also set up after the U.S. passed a new law in August that gives $52 billion in subsidies to companies that make chips or do research on chips in the U.S. The goal of the law is to make the U.S. less dependent on Asia for semiconductors.
Chen said that Taiwan’s chip industry has a very good workforce and a well-integrated supply chain. This is why the US wants to make less of its products in Taiwan.
Related: Meta releases AI software tools that will make it easier to switch between Nvidia and AMD chips.
“From the government’s point of view, we think Taiwan will always have the upper hand when it comes to developing the most advanced manufacturing technology.”
However, he stated that the government is pleased when Taiwanese chip companies invest in countries that share similar values.
“We think that will only help us get closer to each other.”
