Pelosi's/McCarthy's Visits

[Randy W]

Seems like it's time for Taiwanese tech companies to have an exit plan

See also in CFL Topic Current Events:  America Chips Act - http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/49719-current-events/page/35/#comment-649789

Taiwan official calls for approval of U.S. computer chip subsidies
The island’s TSMC has started building a semiconductor factory in Arizona and is training engineers, but the pace of construction depends on subsidies, a Taiwanese minister says

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Taiwan’s biggest semiconductor manufacturer has started building a computer-chip factory in Arizona and is hiring U.S. engineers and sending them to Taiwan for training, but the pace of construction will depend on Congress approving federal subsidies, a Taiwanese minister said Tuesday.

The message follows similar calls from U.S. chip manufacturers Intel and GlobalFoundries, which last week said that the delay in passing the subsidy legislation is slowing their investments in new factories in Ohio and New York.

A global shortage of semiconductors has prompted a scramble by many countries, including the United States, to build more chip manufacturing facilities. In May 2020, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, agreed to build a $12 billion facility in Arizona.

 . . .

Aiming to incentivize that and other construction projects, the Senate last summer passed a bipartisan measure, known as the Chips Act, to spend $52 billion on manufacturer subsidies. But that legislation is still held up in congressional wrangling.

“TSMC has already begun their construction in Arizona, basically because of trust. They believe the Chips Act will be passed by the Congress,” Ming-Hsin Kung, minister of Taiwan’s National Development Council and a TSMC board member, said in an interview in Washington.

 . . .

About 250 have already made the trip for training, including hands-on work at TSMC’s chip factories. “They are not there only for lectures. They need to go on-site and be engaged in the operation,” he said.

The United States and TSMC “want the U.S. facilities to operate as efficiently as the Taiwan facilities,” Kung said. “If not, that means TSMC [will] lose tons of money out of their investment.”

Taiwan is also keen to boost cooperation with the United States in other areas, including electric vehicles, biotechnology and 5G technology, the minister said, adding that he hoped Taiwan’s work to address the global chip shortage has shown that it is “a reliable partner in the global supply chain.”

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

I'm seeing this on CGTN just now. 

A bipartisan delegation of five U.S. Congress members, led by Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, arrived in Taiwan less than two weeks after a visit by Nancy Pelosi that infuriated China. The group is expected to meet Monday with Taiwan’s president. https://nyti.ms/3JUWKBt

from the NY Times

Five U.S. Lawmakers Arrive in Taiwan Amid Tensions With China
The delegation, led by Senator Ed Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, is visiting less than two weeks after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit set off tensions with China.

A photo released by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs showing members of an American congressional delegation arriving Sunday and being greeted by Douglas Yu-tien Hsu, center, a Taiwanese diplomat.Credit...Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, via Associated Press

 

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

 . . . and, guess what!

Beijing starts more live drills around Taiwan as Tsai Ing-wen meets another US delegation
Taiwanese president holds closed-door meeting with first high-level US congressional delegation to visit island since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip
US group says it seeks to reduce tensions in the Taiwan Strait and expand economic cooperation, ‘including investments in semiconductors’

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets US Senator Ed Markey at the presidential office in Taipei, Taiwan, on Monday. Photo: Reuters
 

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They made a low-profile entry, apparently to avoid triggering fresh wrath from Beijing. It was only announced by the American Institute in Taiwan – the US representative office in Taipei in the absence of official ties – soon after they arrived at Taipei’s Songshan Airport.

 . . .

Tsai and the lawmakers discussed US-Taiwan relations, regional security, trade and investment, global supply chains, climate change and other significant issues of mutual interest, the source said.

Tsai told the visiting US congressional delegation the island would work with Washington on security and supply chain issues.

 . . .

“China is responding to these provocations across all fronts: diplomatic, informational, military and economic,” said Andy Mok, a senior research fellow at the Centre for China and Globalisation, a non-governmental think tank in Beijing.

“And we can expect further responses in both scope and magnitude as provocations and responses continue to escalate.”

 

 

 

[Randy W]

[Randy W]

from China Xinhua News on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/XH.NewsAgency/posts/pfbid0kaLdEq2twFacZJxZpbHX3Akhby9qLApcbueFAbqij1vVVGjtQK4fk7LAwKdDx8jsl

 

 

[Randy W]

Taiwan showcases fighter jets as mainland China’s war games continue following Pelosi visit

Days after mainland Chinese forces ended their series of unprecedented drills around Taiwan, the self-ruled island flew its own F-16 fighters in an apparent show of force.

from the SCMP on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/scmp/videos/479646363985497/

[Randy W]

Robert Nicholas Burns is an American diplomat and academic who is the 13th and current United States Ambassador to China since 2022. - Wikipedia

Mainland China’s ‘overreaction’ on Taiwan a danger to peace, US ambassador says

• US ambassador Nicholas Burns says Beijing is endangering a peaceful resolution to tensions in the Taiwan Strait
• The US is not seeking to decouple, but will ‘vigorously’ compete with China, Burns says

from the SCMP

Nicholas Burns, who was appointed US ambassador to Beijing in March, says China’s aggression risked a peaceful resolution to tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Photo: Reuters
 

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The United States has not shifted its stance on Taiwan and remains committed to the one China policy, but Beijing’s “overreaction” to the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi risks a peaceful resolution, Washington’s ambassador to China said on Thursday.

Nicholas Burns, who was appointed ambassador in March, said countries in Southeast Asia should also be concerned about mainland China’s aggression in the Taiwan Strait, given its importance as a shipping route.

“If anyone has changed policy here, it’s really the People’s Republic of China, with their overreaction, for nearly two months now since speaker Pelosi’s visit,” he said at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore.

“We’ve had a median line in the Taiwan Strait for 68 years, it has really kept the peace. [China] tries to erase that: they fired missiles over Taiwan into the Japanese economic zone, they simulated a naval blockade and air blockade.”

 

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Just to be clear, I'm not seeing anything anywhere that says that he actually has a trip in the works

China will retaliate if Kevin McCarthy visits Taipei, but with less fury, observers say

• Reports of trip to the island by new US House speaker spark more concerns about US-China relations
• But Chinese military reaction likely to be milder than Nancy Pelosi’s visit, with long-term interests unchanged

from the SCMP

Reports of a trip to the self-ruled island by newly elected Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy have sparked more concerns about US-China relations. Photo: Bloomberg
 

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A possible visit by US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Taiwan would likely prompt a military response from mainland China, but milder than the one that followed former speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit, observers said.

The US Defence Department is preparing for McCarthy to visit Taiwan this spring, Punchbowl News reported, in what would be the second trip to the island by a US House speaker in less than a year.

 . . .

“It might not even be half of the level when Pelosi visited,” he added.

“The message we delivered [last time] was strong enough, [this kind of visit] could not change the status of the Taiwan Strait,” he said, referring to Beijing’s near complete blockade and live-fire military drills around Taiwan following Pelosi’s visit.

Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the Chinese military would be ready for McCarthy’s visit to the island.

“If McCarthy is coming, targeted military drills must be held as needed to let the other side know that the People’s Liberation Army has been preparing for a military struggle against Taiwan,” he said.

 

 

[Randy W]

This meeeting would be in the US.

China threatens retaliation if Kevin McCarthy meets with Taiwan’s president
A meeting between the House speaker and President Tsai Ing-wen while she is in the U.S. next week would be a “provocation,” a Chinese official said Wednesday.

from NBCNews

 

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 China on Wednesday threatened retaliation if House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen as she passes through the United States next week, saying it would be a “provocation.”

Speaking hours later as she left Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy that Beijing claims as its territory, Tsai said external pressure would not deter her government from engaging with the world.

 . . .

Tsai will first stop in New York starting Wednesday on her way to Guatemala and Belize, then make another stop in Los Angeles before returning to Taiwan on April 7. In Los Angeles, she is likely to meet in person with McCarthy and other members of Congress, though it has not been officially confirmed.

 . . .

“If she makes contact with U.S. House Speaker McCarthy, it will be another provocation that seriously violates the one-China principle, undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” the spokesperson, Zhu Fenglian, said Wednesday at a regular news briefing.

 

 

[Randy W]

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy meets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California

• ‘The friendship between the people of Taiwan and America is a matter of profound importance to the free world,’ says third-ranking US official
• Beijing threatened retaliation, with Chinese embassy in Washington conveying ‘deep concern and firm opposition’ to meeting

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (centre) greets Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (left) for a meeting at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

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McCarthy, meeting Tsai at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, was joined by a bipartisan group of 17 other lawmakers including Pete Aguilar of California, the third-ranking House leader in the Democratic Party, as well as 10 members from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.

“I believe our bond is stronger now than at any time or point in my lifetime,” McCarthy said, standing next to Tsai after their meeting.

 

The friendship between America and the people of Taiwan has never been stronger. It is my honor to welcome President @iingwen to the @Reagan_Library. pic.twitter.com/2XSIJRv7Vp

— Kevin McCarthy (@SpeakerMcCarthy) April 5, 2023

 

After meeting with members of the US Congress from both sides of the aisle, I was heartened by their strong bipartisan support for #Taiwan. Thank you to @SpeakerMcCarthy & all our American friends. When we stand together, we are all stronger. pic.twitter.com/HVw2WqxBXz

— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) April 6, 2023

Edited April 6, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

There's always more fish to kill.

PLA announces exercises amid Chinese anger over meeting between Taiwan’s President and US House Speaker.

from Al Jazeera English on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera/posts/pfbid02f1eMeqWa5HkkKzSkg7E2BHNo7Yjtecx3TPCAZiQQZfdPBA2dodyfhj1HpzQEryXCl

 

China begins three days of military drills in Taiwan Strait
PLA announces United Sharp Sword exercises amid Chinese anger over meeting between Taiwan’s President and US House Speaker.

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The drills, dubbed United Sharp Sword, involve exercises in the Taiwan Strait to the north and south of the island as well as in the sea and airspace to its east.

“This is a serious warning to the Taiwan independence separatist forces and external forces’ collusion and provocation, and it is a necessary action to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the PLA said.

 . . .

A Chinese warship in seas facing the Taiwan Strait fired multiple rounds of artillery in the Luoyan Bay area on the coast of Fujian province, about 50 km (30 miles) northwest of the Matsu islands that are near the mainland but controlled by Taiwan.

Smoke and muzzle flares were visible from the stern of the vessel, an amphibious landing ship, as sailors fired shells towards targets on land and water, the Reuters news agency reported. Fishing boats and huge cargo vessels cruised nearby, avoiding the drill area.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said that 42 Chinese planes and eight ships crossed the strait’s median line, which normally serves as an unofficial buffer between the two sides, on Saturday morning.