Seeking European support Joseph Wu: will not block TSMC to set up a factory in Germany

During a joint visit to Europe, Taiwan’s foreign minister said his government would not stop TSMC from investing in Europe if the EU offered incentives for the company to do so, but he hoped countries would “also think about Taiwan’s situation” when attracting investment from TSMC.

Taiwan’s foreign minister Joseph Wu recently embarked on a tour of Europe in an effort to persuade more EU countries to support Taiwan. “We have been trying to get more voices from Europe to remind China that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is very important,” he told DW and other media.

Joseph Wu says he wants to tell his friends in Europe that Taiwan and Europe have very close economic interests and that he wants EU countries to be aware of the possible global impact of an invasion of Taiwan.

A reporter asked what the EU could do to deter China’s possible aggression. In response, Wu said the EU’s recent statements have all referred to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and warned against unilateral changes to the status quo, which shows a “strong posture.” “If it is repeated with the same intensity, I think it will remind China that aggression against Taiwan is something that European countries do not like.”

Taiwan’s foreign ministry has so far publicly confirmed only two trips, including a visit to the European Values Center for Security Policy, a Czech think tank, on Tuesday. After opening remarks by Czech President Petr Pavel; On the 16th, he led a delegation to visit the European Parliament, met with 12 lawmakers including Vice President Nicola Beer, and was awarded a certificate of appreciation by the Group of Friends of the European Parliament and the Group of Friends of the Belgian Parliament.

New Czech President Pavel: The President of Taiwan took the initiative to invite a phone call
According to a press release issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 18th, Wu received a “high-level reception” from the European Parliament, which “highlights the importance of the European Parliament to Taiwan and its positive actions to strengthen the bilateral partnership.”

Before Mr Wu’s visit, China had warned EU officials and politicians not to meet him. A spokesman for the European Commission, asked on Friday about Mr Wu’s European trip, responded that they were “not in a position to confirm whether there are any official meetings between representatives of EU institutions and visitors from Taiwan”.

A survey released in early June by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that a majority of people in the 11 EU countries surveyed would prefer their country to remain neutral in the event of a conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan.

In Germany, for example, 60 percent of respondents favored neutrality, while 23 percent preferred that Germany should support the United States.

Asked about the findings, Mr Wu said: “For a long time, European countries have wanted to remain strategically neutral in international affairs. But that may change as reality develops.” When the international community is discussing important international principles, it will be very difficult for Europe to say “don’t care”; Still, persuading the EU to give Taiwan more support will be “hard work.”

The European Union has worked to expand its own semiconductor production capacity in recent years, and last year announced a subsidy program to attract chip makers. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is considering setting up Europe’s first factory in Germany.

A reporter asked Wu whether Taiwan would seek political gain by giving the green light to the plan; “I don’t think we have set any conditions, whether it is in the United States, Japan or Europe,” he said.

“If Europe offers very positive incentives, and we have talked to TSMC, and they feel they can rest assured that investing in Europe will bring very positive results, then their investment in Europe will certainly not be blocked by the government.”

“While we are not selfishly preventing TSMC from investing in other countries, we certainly hope that other countries that want to attract TSMC investment will also think about Taiwan’s situation, think about TSMC’s position in Taiwan and think about Taiwan’s position in the geostrategic situation,” Mr Wu said.

Wu further stressed the importance of building relationships. “When a country lacks chips, it comes to Taiwan and says, ‘You should do this, you should do that.'” “But they don’t seem to have thought about the bigger picture, about maintaining a better relationship with Taiwan, economic or otherwise,” he said.

Taiwan and Europe could sign bilateral investment Treaty
Taiwan also wants a bilateral investment treaty with the EU. As the EU considers moving ahead with a Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CAI) with China, Wu said he is very concerned about the potential EU-Taiwan investment agreement “becoming a hostage.” CAI progress in Europe and China has been stalled since 2021.

Mr Wu believes that if the EU sees a close economic link between Taiwan and the EU, then “the EU should find alternative ways to strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations, rather than being tied by CAI”.

An EU official told DW that there is “no correlation” between the issues. The European Commission’s trade spokesperson Miriam Garcia Ferrer told DW that Taiwan is “an important economic partner in the region,” adding that economic talks are held regularly between Taiwan and the EU.

However, there has been no formal progress towards a deal since 2015, when the EU included Taiwan on a list of partners to explore launching talks. Mr Ferrer made clear the EU’s current position: “Negotiating a bilateral investment treaty with Taiwan is not on the agenda at this time.”

In the face of the Taiwan issue, the EU adheres to the so-called “one China policy”. A spokesperson for the European Commission told DW that the EU recognizes the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China.

“We will interact with Taiwan, which is a like-minded key regional partner in terms of economy and high technology, but our interaction with Taiwan has always been without recognition of its statehood,” the spokesman said.