Premier Cho Jung-tai told the Legislative Yuan on September 30 that Taiwan supports Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s overseas fabs for customer proximity, but will not allow the island to lose the research and production that define 2-nanometer-class nodes. The statement, delivered during an Executive Yuan policy report, attempts to balance US pressure for American wafer capacity with domestic anxiety that the “silicon shield” weakens when tools migrate abroad.
What Cho committed to
Cho described Taiwan’s semiconductor cluster as spanning Hsinchu, Taichung, and Tainan science parks with extensions on three continents. He said TSMC’s announced domestic fab pipeline—more than a dozen leading-edge and advanced packaging sites—remains the anchor for employment and power demand planning. Cabinet spokespersons previously cited Chairman C.C. Wei’s pledge that the majority of cutting-edge output stays in Taiwan even as Arizona and Japan projects ramp.
Economy Minister Kung Ming-hsin separately told industry audiences in September that Taiwanese firms plan another US$20 billion of US investment tied to AI demand, without naming each project. Cho’s remarks narrow the political message: outbound capital is acceptable; outbound brains and EUV lines are not.
Opposition questions
Lawmakers from both camps asked how the government verifies technology transfer restrictions when US customers hire Taiwanese engineers on site. Cho deferred operational detail to the National Science and Technology Council and TSMC’s export-compliance filings, but promised quarterly public updates on water and electricity allocations for domestic expansions.
Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office routinely criticizes US-Taiwan chip cooperation; Cho did not address cross-strait rhetoric directly, focusing instead on supply-chain resilience after typhoon season damage in eastern counties.
What comes next
October budget reviews will test whether Cho’s cabinet secures fast-track permits for Tainan packaging plants. If US trade talks demand larger offshore shares, Taipei’s line-in-the-sand rhetoric will meet invoice reality. For now, the policy headline is synchronized with TSMC’s own talking points: build globally, invent locally.