'Silicon Shield' is about more than just Taiwan: Scholar

Taipei, Aug. 21 (CNA) A research fellow at Academia Sinica introduced the concept of "Silicon Shield 2.0" at a security forum in Taipei on Wednesday, saying it was not "Taiwan centric," but seeks to integrate Taiwan into international supply chains.

While there is a debate over whether the "Silicon Shield" -- the idea that Taiwan's production of 90 percent of the world's advanced chips acts as a deterrent against China -- protects or increases the risk Taiwan faces, Wu Jieh-min (吳介民) from Academia Sinica's Institute of Sociology said the concept should not be seen as Taiwan centric.

"It is not just about Taiwan's security, but about global economic stability and security," he said at the Ketagalan Forum's economic security panel.

He added that the true power of the "Silicon Shield" does not lie in Taiwan's semiconductor capabilities but in the catastrophic "global consequences of disruption to the chip supply chain from any conflict over Taiwan or in the region."

Wu stressed that replicating Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem elsewhere would be too "complex, costly, and time-consuming" because it is the outcome of "decades of investment in the infrastructure, research, and a specialized workforce."

Therefore the United States' adoption of re-shoring or friend-shoring policies -- moving chip manufacturing to the U.S. or its allies -- are "far from quick fixes," Wu said.

The immediate priority is to ensure security in the Taiwan Strait and the wider region, he added.

However, ensuring regional peace is necessary but not enough, the scholar said, adding "Taiwan must take a more active role in international cooperation."

"Silicon Shield 2.0" seeks to elevate Taiwan's role in global security by more fully integrating Taiwan's role in global economic security by integrating its semiconductor ecosystem into the international network, Wu said.

Such integration is already taking place now, for example, through the investment by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in the U.S. state of Arizona, Japan's Kumamoto, and Germany's Dresden, which should be viewed positively as an extension of Taiwan's influence, he said.

However, Wu said Taiwan also needs to boost its participation in international security mechanisms.

"Taiwan's current network of international support is bilateral and informal, which is insufficient to address the increasingly complex geopolitical situation," the scholar noted.

He stressed that expanding Taiwan's involvement in multilateral organizations would benefit the U.S. and its allies.

Meanwhile, energy security was also brought up by former Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger during the security panel.

Heger said the Indo-Pacific region should learn from the mistake of becoming too dependent on Russian oil and gas made by Slovakia and other European countries.

"I would say that we basically traded our values for cheap gas," he warned, adding that although the country had a plan from 2006 to diversify, it was not taken seriously.

The price of Russian gas and oil after the Russia-Ukraine war started in 2022 shot from an average of 20 euros (US$22.25) per megawatt hour to 350 euros at its peak. The price of electricity also rose from between 50 and 60 euros per megawatt, peaking at 1,000 euros, he said.

Yeo Han-koo, a senior fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics in the U.S., said renewable energy was a good solution for energy independence and the climate crisis.

But he also pointed out that many Asian countries have isolated power grids, in contrast to Europe, which has an interconnected power grid that allows for energy to be sent between countries.

Yeo encouraged Asian countries to work together to overcome this challenge.