President William Lai (賴清德) urged Japan to pursue a bilateral trade deal with Taiwan and support Taiwan’s accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade pact in an interview published in Nikkei Asia today.
As Lai approaches one year in office, he granted his first foreign media interview this year to the Japan-based publication.
Amid US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs and escalating Chinese military exercises around Taiwan, Lai said, “Japan is a powerful nation. I sincerely hope that Japan can take a leading role amid these changes in the international landscape.”
Lai said that Taiwan plans to leverage its production and manufacturing capabilities to establish a “non-red” global semiconductor supply chain partnership for democratic countries such as Japan, the US and the Netherlands.
“Japan has materials, equipment and technology, the US has [integrated circuit] (IC) design and marketing, Taiwan has production and manufacturing, and the Netherlands excels in equipment,” he said.
“Over the past few decades, the free economy headed by the Western world and led by the United States has brought economic prosperity and political stability” to Taiwan, he said, adding that not all countries have been “exemplary students.”
Lai said that China is currently the “biggest crisis” to the free-trade system due to plagiarism, counterfeiting, dumping and intellectual property disputes.
“If this kind of unfair trade is not resolved, the stable societies and economic prosperity we have painstakingly built over decades, as well as some of the values we pursue, could be destroyed,” he added.
The US has recently addressed such unfair trade practices and Taiwan would be willing to help, he said.
Regarding intensified Chinese military drills, espionage and “united front” infiltration, Lai said “to defend democracy and sovereignty, protect our free and democratic system and ensure the safety of our people’s lives and property, Taiwan’s choice is clear.”
Taiwan “must demonstrate the strength of deterrence to prevent China from making the wrong judgment,” he said.
However, he added that “as long as China treats Taiwan with parity and dignity, Taiwan is willing to conduct exchanges and cooperate with China and seek cross-strait peace and mutual prosperity.”
