Taiwan needs global collaboration to keep chipmaking edge: Scholars

Taipei, Oct. 12 (CNA) Taiwan should collaborate with trusted partners to maintain its edge in advanced semiconductor manufacturing while also confronting China's increasing global share of legacy chip production, a panel of experts told a forum in Taipei on Saturday.

While Taiwan enjoys a "strong and capable" ecosystem in advanced semiconductor manufacturing, it needs to continue working with global partners to "build up the alliance [and] interconnections," former U.S. security official Joe Wang said.

In addition, Taiwan ought to collaborate with those partners on boosting the production of legacy chips, Wang said, referring to less advanced semiconductors applied in household appliances and automobiles, among others.

According to Wang, global legacy chipmaking has increasingly become "skewed toward China," a situation he described as "extremely concerning."

Wang said the Chinese government has subsidized production of legacy chips "in a way that none of the rest of our countries can do." He added that such an approach was not business-driven, but aimed at expanding Beijing's political influence.

Cooperation between trusted partners is hence imperative to balancing China's competitiveness in manufacturing legacy chips, also known as mature nodes, he added.

Wang, who spoke in his capacity as senior advisor at the Virginia-based think tank Special Competitive Studies Project, had previously served as the United States National Security Council's director for Russia.

His comments echoed those of U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who told reporters in April that China was producing some 60 percent of legacy chips in the world and would continue to do so in the coming years.

The surge in Chinese production in recent years was partly caused by U.S.-led export bans of advanced chips and chipmaking equipment to China on the grounds of national security reasons, according to some observers.

Sharing Wang's concerns, Kazuto Suzuki, director of the Tokyo-based Institute of Geoeconomics, cautioned against complacency and underscored prioritizing the maintenance of "technological superiority."

"We cannot just sit and relax," he said, adding that China was also striving to make advanced chips despite facing restricted access to those that power artificial intelligence (AI) and other cutting-edge technologies.

Suzuki urged Japan and Taiwan to further explore collaboration opportunities for semiconductor R&D, such as facilitating the exchanges of technologies, ideas and people.

"Friendshoring is not just about production and trade," he said. "Friendshoring is also about how to share the information, how to share intellectual property [and] how to maintain those movements of people."

The Japanese expert was alluding to an emerging trend in trade where supply chain networks prioritize countries seen as political and economic partners.

South Korean economist Yeon Won-ho also called for cooperation between his country and Taiwan, arguing that the two were not "competitors" but were rather "complementary" to each other.

One key area for possible collaboration between Taiwan and South Korea is information and communication technology (ICT) services and devices, according to Yeon, a member of the South Korean Presidential Office's policy advisory committee.

This represents an emerging market, Yeon said, particularly as the U.S. government seeks to ban China-made communications or automated driving systems in cars for fear of data collection by Chinese companies.

Saturday's forum was co-organized by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology, a national think tank established last October under Taiwan's National Science and Technology Council.