00:00In many ways, Taiwan is riding high.
00:06This small island that lives warily in China's shadow
00:11has succeeded in cornering the market for making high-end processing chips
00:16used in artificial intelligence.
00:21Its high-tech focused economy is surging.
00:24And for a place that isn't recognized by most other countries in the world,
00:28including Canada, a lot of nations are now paying attention.
00:34But China's menacing military behavior and unpredictable U.S. foreign policy
00:40pose serious challenges.
00:43Vice President, very good to meet you. I'm Chris Brown.
00:45Yes, welcome to Taiwan.
00:47We sat down with Taiwan's Vice President, Xiao Bi Kim,
00:50where she talked about the potential leverage Taiwan hopes to gain
00:53from its chip industry and why it's creating an expensive missile
00:57shield around the island.
00:59I want to start with some questions about Canada, first of all.
01:02Some of your media have reported about trade discussions that happened
01:06with Canada, with the previous government of Justin Trudeau,
01:10suggesting that Canada has been dragging its feet at implementing them.
01:14What can you tell me about this?
01:16Canada is an important trading partner with Taiwan,
01:18and our economies are complementary in many ways,
01:21and I certainly hope that we can move forward in continuing our trade discussions.
01:28Over the past years, these discussions have been very productive,
01:33and we look forward to continuing.
01:35Is there a delay?
01:36Well, trade talks are always complicated.
01:39We look forward to and we're hopeful that we can continue these discussions.
01:42Canada has been a big provider of agricultural products for Taiwan,
01:47and Taiwan has been a producer of some key technology components
01:52that also contribute to Canada's manufacturing.
01:56And so, you know, we would certainly like to continue a very strong
02:00and robust economic and trade relationship,
02:03and it would be helpful to have that legal infrastructure
02:09that further consolidates a trade partnership between us.
02:12What is your read right now on the broader dynamic of China, the United States,
02:17and how that might impact the very important industries that you have here in Taiwan?
02:23If you are, you know, referencing the role that China has played
02:28in the global trading system, I think we have all observed some changes
02:35and an evolution of China's role from the 1990s.
02:39They had a policy of reform and opening and participation in the WTO
02:45and the global trading system, and they've certainly benefited significantly from that.
02:50But at the same time, in more recent years, we have been alarmed
02:55that China is now using their economic leverage as tools of coercion,
03:00including their leverage over certain rare earth minerals
03:06or other processes in global supply chains.
03:11You must be concerned, I would think, of Taiwan simply being a bargaining chip
03:14in this big trade war between the U.S. and China.
03:17One of our key industries, the semiconductor and chip industry,
03:21has been partnered to the United States and the Silicon Valley.
03:26In fact, many people see the Silicon Valley and Taiwan's tech parts
03:31as one single large ecosystem of technology that drives global prosperity.
03:38I take your point about a joint ecosystem, if you will,
03:42particularly in the issue of semiconductors,
03:44but we've also heard U.S. officials saying they want Taiwan
03:47to move a very large amount of its manufacturing of chips to the U.S.
03:52I've heard the amount is around 50%.
03:55What's your feeling about that?
03:56And how much is a reasonable amount to shift out of Taiwan?
04:01Well, let me first address Taiwan's strength and competitive edge in chip manufacturing.
04:09And that is, this is not something that happened overnight.
04:13It took us decades to build, and it was also decades of hardship.
04:19Under very difficult international circumstances, Taiwan managed to build one of the most comprehensive
04:28and competitive ecosystems that support high-end manufacturing in semiconductor chips.
04:36We have made commitments to investing in the United States, not just TSMC, but broader sectors of the ecosystem,
04:48from their suppliers to designers and other chip manufacturing companies are also working with American firms like Intel
04:58to enhance their production capabilities.
05:02And so this is a very win-win partnership that we have going on, and we will continue to build on that.
05:10You speak about adversity and a lot of hard work to build this industry up.
05:15People we've been talking to here said, well, suddenly a place like Taiwan that's only recognized by a handful of countries in the world
05:23is suddenly no longer invisible. You have a real presence in the world.
05:28As a government, as a leader, how do you leverage that into more political clout for your island?
05:34Taiwan has really been treated unfairly by the majority of countries around the world
05:41who do not recognize Taiwan's status.
05:46But we will continue to strive to improve our democracy, to enhance our economic strength,
05:55and to also be a force for good in the world.
05:58How concerned are you that the U.S. may perhaps back off,
06:03give China some of what it's asking for as part of a broader deal on trade?
06:09Well, China has never ceased raising the Taiwan issue and their claims in all of their international discussions.
06:20However, at the same time, United States policy towards Taiwan has also been very consistent.
06:26And we have seen just weeks ago, again, bipartisan congressional support for legislation that deepens and strengthens the Taiwan-U.S. partnership.
06:39And we believe that, as we have seen President Trump reiterating on many occasions how peace and security are priorities,
06:50how he seeks to build peace.
06:52I do believe that the security and stability of the Taiwan Strait is an important component of that.
06:58Even today, we've seen in the Strait lots of examples of Chinese ships and aircraft crossing the line, behaving aggressively.
07:07What is your government's latest calculus on the threat, military threat from China in a possible timeline?
07:14I think, first of all, I need to reiterate that everything we are doing in the security realm
07:21is to prevent conflict from happening.
07:25So ultimately, timelines and discussions of timelines are contingent upon our own preparedness and our strengths.
07:34It is no secret that China is investing tremendous capital in their military capabilities,
07:42and they are also conducting increasingly aggressive military exercises around the vicinity of the Taiwan Strait,
07:53which impact not only Taiwan but others in our neighborhood and the South China Sea.
07:59I want to ask you about the President's announcement about the T-Dome, the missile shield.
08:04How is that going to work? How is it going to be paid for?
08:07Now, the President's concept, conceptually, the T-Dome, is producing a multilayered safety net around Taiwan that involves air defenses,
08:22but also more sophisticated sensor-to-shooter integration.
08:30It also includes different systems and the introduction of software and new technologies to provide that hybrid shield,
08:47which given China's tremendous investments in their new military technologies will, of course, be a very challenging task.
08:59But we are committed and determined to defend Taiwan from harm.
09:06Vice President, thank you so much for spending this time with us.
09:09Of course.
09:11You're welcome.
