TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Tuesday (Oct. 29) criticized Donald Trump's claims that Taiwan stole the US semiconductor industry.
In a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan on his podcast “The Joe Rogan Experience,” Trump repeated his allegation that Taiwan “stole our chip business” and threatened to impose tariffs on Taiwan semiconductor imports and charge the country a US military protection fee. When asked for comment by the media on Tuesday, Cho said both major US parties have a strong consensus on US-Taiwan relations and future development.
Cho said under these circumstances, “We hope and believe that the US democratic elections will proceed smoothly, allowing us to continue deepening and strengthening US-Taiwan relations,” per Newtalk.
At a session of the Legislative Yuan on Tuesday, Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) asked Cho whether the government agrees with Trump's allegations, per CNA. Cho said, “Of course, I disagree," and added, "The semiconductor industry was developed independently by Taiwan and leads the world."
Wang replied that Taiwan's semiconductor workers have worked tirelessly to make Taiwan a pillar of the global semiconductor industry. Wang expressed regret that Trump has continued to repeat these allegations.
Wang said if Trump were elected, she worries that this viewpoint might gain traction worldwide. She believes the efforts of Taiwan's semiconductor workers must not be stifled.
Cho the government will continue to monitor developments with the US election. He expressed confidence that the US is a mature democracy and believes that US-Taiwan relations will deepen further based on the current foundation.