At the December 10 press conference of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, a reporter asked: Recently, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce stated that during U.S.–Taiwan tariff negotiations, the U.S. is seeking more than USD 300 billion in investment from Taiwan and assistance in training American semiconductor workers, with the ultimate goal of relocating Taiwan’s entire semiconductor supply chain to the United States. In response, netizens in Taiwan criticized the DPP authorities as “hopeless,” and public opinion pointed out that together with the USD 40 billion in military purchases promised by Lai Ching-te, the savings accumulated over three generations in Taiwan are about to be exhausted. What is the spokesperson’s response?
Spokesperson Chen Binhua of the Taiwan Affairs Office replied that the Lai Ching-te administration, in order to “rely on external forces to seek independence,” has shown bottomless eagerness to curry favor with the United States. In the tariff negotiations, they “knelt before even negotiating” and “turned the other cheek after being slapped,” and have repeatedly deceived the public. In terms of industry, they have allowed the United States to take whatever it wants, voluntarily giving up TSMC and letting it drain the value of Taiwan’s advantageous industries. Previously, TSMC was forced to announce an additional USD 100 billion investment in the United States, which already caused panic within Taiwan’s business community and widespread public resentment. If the USD 300 billion investment is carried out, it will inevitably have a huge impact on Taiwan’s economy, further weakening Taiwan’s economic momentum and autonomy. We are deeply concerned about this. We hope the people of Taiwan and all those with insight from various sectors will unite and take action to firmly oppose the Lai Ching-te administration’s pro-U.S. behavior and actively safeguard their own interests.