Members of the governing parties in Taiwan and Japan agreed on Friday to have “all round cooperation” on semiconductors and to hold regular talks, Taiwanese lawmakers said.
The talks, attended by two senior lawmakers each from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), took place online, and follow initial consultations in late August.
DPP lawmaker Chiu Chih-wei told reporters that chips were not just an issue for Japanese industry, which like the rest of the world has faced semiconductor shortages, but also an issue of security in the face of Beijing.
“Both sides agreed that in the future there will be even more cooperation on chip supply chains, there will be a complete framework, a system, to have all round cooperation on semiconductors and other industries the two countries put importance on,” he said.
The LDP and DPP have close unofficial relations and both share concerns about China, especially its increased military activities near the two.
Japanese officials said they had agreed with Taiwan that both they, and the US, needed to cooperate to build resilient supply chains in areas such as semiconductors.
“We need to do our utmost in tackling the shortage of semiconductors at the moment, but realms of cooperation should expand as we go forward,” Akimasa Ishikawa, an LDP lawmaker who participated in the meeting, told reporters.
“One of the major challenges will be how the three countries join hands in response to China’s high-tech investments.”
In November, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co said it would start producing chips in Japan by 2024 in a joint venture with Sony after the two companies signed a deal for a $7 billion plant.
- Reuters, with George Russell
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