Can the Chinese Communist Party stop the creation of a blue supply chain alliance?

Media reports, the United States is in collusion with Taiwan, Japan and South Korea and other partners to establish a “less dependent on China” supply chain, U.S. scholars analysis, this is one of the unintended consequences of China’s squeeze on Taiwan, Beijing is difficult to stop.

“Voice of America” (VOA) reported that the global shortage of automotive chips, Europe and the United States and other advanced countries have to the world’s leading foundry TSMC for assistance, Japan’s “Nikkei News” 24 disclosed that the United States is conceived for chips and other products with significant strategic The establishment of “less dependent on China” supply chain, such as cooperation with Taiwan, Japan and South Korea in the semiconductor; cooperation with Australia in rare earths.

As to whether Taiwan might be included in a formal alliance between the U.S. and Indo-Pacific countries for supply chain security, as reported, a researcher at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and the Taiwan and Indo-Pacific “It’s possible, I don’t see why not,” said Kharis Templeman, a fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution and head of the Project on Taiwan in Indo-Pacific.

The Tsai Ing-wen administration has expressed interest in such an idea, and if it’s also a priority for President Joe Biden‘s administration, the two sides should be able to discuss it, one of the counterproductive effects of Beijing’s constant pressure on Taiwan since 2016, said Kharis Templeman.

If the U.S. has such pragmatic cooperation with Taiwan, Beijing does not have many tools to block or oppose it for the purpose of punishing the U.S. If they have such consultations, he said, there is now more room for dialogue without fear that Beijing could harm Taiwan.

In response to the Nikkei News report, the Voice of America pointed out that the representative to the United States, Xiao Meiqin, responded that in addition to the previous White House economic advisor Brian Deese’s letter to Economic Secretary Wang Meihua expressing appreciation for Taiwan’s active assistance with automotive chips, the U.S. side has not yet discussed with Taiwan on the “content of the executive order and the implementation model.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order on the 24th, instructing departments to conduct a 100-day comprehensive assessment of the vulnerability of four major categories of products that require the use of chips, such as cell phones and electric vehicles, as well as batteries for electric vehicles, and minerals and strategic materials such as rare earths, which are of paramount importance to the U.S. industrial and defense industries.

Biden also ordered the implementation of a year-long assessment of the supply chain in six major areas, including defense, public health, information and communications technology, transportation, energy and Food production, to enhance the resilience of the U.S. supply chain.

But Peter Harrell, senior director of international economic relations and competitiveness at the White House National Security Council, had said at a press conference introducing the contents of the executive order that day that he did not want to reveal details of specific diplomatic conversations, but “it’s clear that Taiwan is an important partner of the United States, and we’ve had constructive conversations with them “.

In addition, Democratic U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, who said at a hearing on the appointment of U.S. Trade Representative nominee Dyche on the 25th that she had met with Taiwan’s representative to the U.S., Mei-Chin Hsiao, over a chip shortage for Michigan auto and other appliance makers, said she was pleased that Biden had taken action to address the issue of U.S. supply chain security.

The Voice of America reported that the shortage of personal medical protective equipment such as masks in the United States at the beginning of last year’s outbreak began to draw attention to the United States’ over-reliance on Chinese market sources and Washington’s deeper consideration of supply chain security.

That’s why Taiwan’s role in the global supply chain has been taken seriously, with the former President Donald Trump administration holding an “Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue” with Taiwan last November and the two sides signing a memorandum of cooperation on projects including semiconductors, 5G and supply chain security.

The Voice of America cited a report by Nikkei News that Washington has been calling on economies with high-value technologies or resources, such as Taiwan, Japan and Australia, to decouple their supply chains from China since last fall.