FOX Business’ Lydia Hu spoke with Taiwan’s ambassador to the US about President Donald Trump’s potential $40 billion arms deal, rising China tensions and why Taiwan says U.S. ties are critical to global stability.
As President Donald Trump weighs a $14 billion arms sale to Taiwan, communication between Taipei and Washington remains ongoing, according to Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s Representative to the U.S.
“This is a constant thing,” Yui said. “It’s an ongoing dialogue. It’s not just if it doesn’t happen, it ends. It’s just a continuum of things.”
Taiwan is also increasing its own defense spending. Lawmakers recently approved a supplemental defense package worth roughly $25 billion, though Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te had pushed for closer to $40 billion.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., right, greets Alexander Yui, Taiwan’s representative to the U.S., before a meeting in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“My government is doing what it can,” Yui said. “But again, I want to stress the determination of the Taiwanese people to defend ourselves through our own means and help from any other ally is more than welcome.”
Yui argued semiconductor production is one of the clearest reasons the U.S. should continue supporting Taiwan militarily. Taiwan produces roughly 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductor chips, forming what he described as a deeply interconnected global supply chain.
The Taipei 101 building and other buildings are illuminated at dusk in Taipei, Taiwan. (I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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“The United States is very good at designing the chips, and we’re very good at scaling and fabricating the chips using machines from the United States, from the Netherlands, from Japan,” Yui said. “This triangle of partnership works very well.”
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Taiwan has also pledged to invest $250 billion in semiconductor and technology manufacturing in the U.S. as Trump pushes to expand domestic chip production.
“It’s not that easy. But we’re trying to bring manufacturing to the United States again, because it also suits our interest to expand our manufacturing,” said Yui.
Taiwan has also pledged to invest $250 billion in semiconductor and technology manufacturing in the U.S. (Lyu Bin/VCG via Getty Images)
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Yui also pushed back on any suggestion that Taiwan is moving toward independence, saying the island’s government is working on maintaining the status quo.
“There is no Taiwan independence movement in Taiwan because there is no need. We in Taiwan [are] called Republic of China, we’re already a sovereign, independent nation,” Yui said. “We’re just trying to preserve the status quo as it is.”
