Carr: Taiwan Plays 'Irreplaceable' Role on Advanced Chipsets, Supply Chain
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, back from a whirlwind trip to Taiwan last week (see 2211020037), said the trip was a success. His goal, in part, was to “play a small role in continuing to deepen the partnership and ties between…
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the U.S., particularly coming on the heels of last month’s Communist Party confab in Beijing,” Carr said in an interview Monday. Chinese leader Xi Jinping “continues to saber rattle and put force on the table when it comes to Taiwan,” he said: “In my view, a free and democratic Taiwan is vital to U.S. economic interest and to our national security interests. I think it’s important for all of us to continue to show support.” That support “helps Taiwan show strength and that’s a good thing for stability,” he said. Carr also said he met with officials at the National Communications Commission, the Ministry of Digital Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, after meeting virtually with the country’s regulators earlier in the year. “It’s important to continue to collaborate and share our two countries’ approaches when it comes to cybersecurity and network resiliency, undersea cable issues,” he said. “I focused a lot on those issues when I was there,” he said. Carr said he spent part of one day in Hsinchu, home to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. More than 90% of more advanced chips are “manufactured right there on the island,” he said. “The role that Taiwan plays in our semiconductor industry right now and our supply chain is irreplaceable,” he said. There probably won’t be another place to get that type of advanced chipset “for probably decades to come, in terms of the breadth and depth and long-term investments necessary,” he said. The $54.2 billion Chips and Science Act, signed into law in August (see 2208090062), will help build manufacturing facilities in the U.S., but “the reality is you can’t replicate the advanced nature of the work that’s in Taiwan outside of Taiwan at this point in time,” he said. As soon as Xi calculates that China’s military capacity is greater than that of Taiwan, plus its allies, the Chinese leader will “probably make a move on Taiwan,” Carr said. “The more we can do to show our collaboration and partnerships with Taiwan, the more likely it is that we achieve cross-[Taiwan] Strait peace,” he said.