Reports are emerging from Taipei that American officials plan to visit Taiwan, a curious move given that the United States is engaging with a “country” presently in conflict with China. It’s important to remember that Taiwan is part of China, though it operates independently with its own government and currency. The presence of American officials in Taiwan will not sit well with China, especially as the visit aims to undermine their technology imports.
This development comes at a time when the US is tightening restrictions on China even further. A recent example involves the US threatening NVIDIA after the company launched more chips and GPUs that comply with new restrictions. The US demanded that NVIDIA stop releasing these new products, as they would be forced to update the blacklist as many times as necessary to prevent the products from being sold in China.
The US is keen to muzzle Taiwan, which houses the world’s most important chip manufacturer, TSMC. TSMC is not only the largest chip manufacturer but also the one that achieves the most advanced manufacturing processes to date. TSMC is responsible for producing the world’s most advanced chips for applications in artificial intelligence, data centers, gaming, and mobile devices.
Despite clear motives, Taiwan remains at the mercy of whatever the American officials say. Of course, pursuing US interests benefits the island. The US serves as an ally that defends this democratically governed island as its territory. At the same time, the US doesn’t want TSMC’s technology to reach China and strengthen their military.
Taiwanese officials themselves are at a loss amid escalating sanctions. Representatives will come to Taiwan to explain how to comply with China’s sanctions. This request comes from Taiwan’s Minister of Economy, Wang Mei-hua, who highlighted the need for the US to clarify some details of the “new and extremely lengthy American rules.”
“The fact that they’re coming to Taiwan to explain things to companies and to understand firsthand the thinking of US law enforcement agencies and maintain on-site communication about the details is something Taiwan needs,” Mei-hua told local press, according to Reuters.
Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that the US officials, whose names were not disclosed, would visit Taiwan next month and hold events in Hsinchu and Tainan chip manufacturing centers. Given Taiwan’s chip manufacturing concentration, it is “advantageous” for Taiwanese companies to learn the details of the new controls directly from US officials, affirmed Taiwan’s Minister of Economy.
The American officials’ visit to Taiwan to explain compliance with China’s sanctions was first reported by El Chapuzas Informático.