If Taiwan is safe, chip supply chains will be secure, says Taiwan minister

"We have a very huge supply chain in Taiwan, that is difficult to duplicate, or difficult to replace," said Taiwanese Minister for Economic Affairs Wang Mei-Hua

Taiwanese Minister for Economic Affairs Wang Mei-Hua said on a visit to the United States on Tuesday that if Taiwan remains safe, global supply chains of vital semiconductors would also be secure.

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Wang made the comments at an event hosted by Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies, as China steps up military pressure on Taiwan, which produces the vast majority of the world's most advanced computer chips.

Wang is in the United States this week to respond to what her office called "concerns" about supply chains and geopolitical issues and to visit U.S. tech firms that are major customers of Taiwanese semiconductor companies.

She said Taiwan is keen for more cooperation between Taiwan and the United States to ensure resilient supply chains.

Wang said that given Taiwan's key role in the high-tech sector, China would also be impacted should it interfere in Taiwan.

She said that if the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC), were to be taken over by military force, this would stop its operations. Wang also cited U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as saying that if anything were to happen to Taiwan the impact on the global economy would be "devastating."