Taiwan was left out of the list of partners under a new US-led semiconductor initiative. To find out why, TaiwanPlus spoke with Olivia Shen, director of the Strategic Technologies Program with the University of Sydney's United States Studies Centre.
00:00The U.S. has time and again stated that it wants to be a leader in the AI field.
00:05What does this Paxilica initiative do that the U.S. didn't already set out to do?
00:10I think what's really interesting about this initiative is that the U.S. is recognizing that it can't win the AI race on its own.
00:18It has to necessarily involve the help and the support of like-minded partners across the very complex supply chain that goes into AI.
00:27Now, artificial intelligence is being touted as the backbone for economic prosperity and security.
00:34And what's really interesting about this Paxilica initiative is that it treats economic security and national security as being absolutely indivisible.
00:43Now, what can be said about the partners that are included in the Paxilica initiative?
00:48You got Japan, Australia, South Korea.
00:51There's a really interesting mix of different countries, actually.
00:55And in some ways, not countries that you see them sort of align necessarily on a whole bunch of issues.
01:01And Undersecretary of Economic Affairs, Jacob Haldberg, has already signaled that he would like other allies and partners to sign on as time goes on.
01:08Now, this initiative is seen as a way to counter China's kind of hold on the rare earth minerals industry.
01:15Do you really think it'll be that effective considering how much sway China holds over the industry?
01:20Absolutely.
01:23China has been using this stranglehold on the industry over the past year in some back and forth trade negotiations in the US.
01:30And we've all been following that with bated breath to see how far they were going to dial up and down that stranglehold on the processing of rare earth minerals.
01:40Now, I do think that rare earths is a very complex, capital intensive supply chain.
01:46You certainly don't diversify them or reduce the risks overnight.
01:50However, this does present a starting point and a starting point where, in particular, the US has brought in partners like Australia.
01:58Now, although Australia doesn't have a large degree of critical minerals processing, we do dig a lot of it out of our ground and we do have a lot of sources of it inside Australia.
02:08So, it's not a short-term sign of success, but it is going to be something that will take long-term strategic patience and investment.
02:19Taiwan produces about 90% of the world's advanced semiconductors, so it plays a pretty critical role in the semiconductor supply chain.
02:27Not only that, but it's a close partner of the United States as well.
02:31So, why do you think Taiwan wasn't mentioned in this initiative?
02:34Well, a very positive reading of it is just that the US has full confidence and faith in Taiwan's support and also in Taiwan's own commitment to maintaining that dominance in semiconductor manufacturing and supply.
02:48You're absolutely right that Taiwan is an indispensable partner in many ways, but I did see this initiative as something more of knitting in broader alliances and partners into the conversation.
Be the first to comment