International Analysis

Will Xi Jinping Win the Battle for Global Influence?

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By TaiwanPlus

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Taiwan was represented once again at this year’s APEC summit by special envoy Morris Chang, since President Tsai Ing-wen was unable to attend the regional summit under pressure from China. The founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company held talks with more than half of the 21 countries represented at the 2022 economic forum in Bangkok, including with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and interacted briefly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, describing the encounter as “pleasant”. Back in Taiwan, at the presidential office, Chang announced that TSMC was planning to introduce the 3nm process to its Arizona plant in the fab’s second phase. In this episode, we discuss whether Taiwan will remain important to the global supply chain once 3nm chips are made in the U.S., what answers APEC has to the combined challenges wreaking havoc on the global economy, and Anthony Albanese’s comments about Taiwan’s accession to one of the world’s largest trade blocs. Our three panelists today are Leonard Chao, National Tsinghua University Adjunct Professor and Former Taiwan Ambassador to Eswatini, Peter Chase, German Marshall Fund in the U.S. Senior Fellow based in Brussels and a Former U.S. Diplomat, and Lu Yeh-chung, National Chengchi University Department of Diplomacy Professor and Chair. Our guests also help us analyze the latest regional news, including Kamala Harris’ trip to the Philippines and the meeting between the U.S. and China defense ministers, Lloyd Austin and Wei Fenghe at the ASEAN defense ministers’ summit in Siem Reap. Topics discussed: - Philippines’ strategic importance to the United States in a Taiwan contingency - Whether an attack on Taiwan would spill over into the Philippines - What message Harris’s trip sends to Beijing after the landmark meeting between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping - What we can expect to come out of the meeting of defense ministers in Cambodia - How open lines of communication could avert and reduce the likelihood of a Taiwan invasion - Whether introducing the 3nm chips to the United States would hurt Taiwan’s national interests - What APEC Bangkok achieved - Whether Anthony Albanese’s comments were affected by his bilateral meeting with Xi Jinping, the first meeting between the two sides in 6 years - Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement on Trans-Pacific Partnership or CPTPP membership and mechanisms - Australia’s World Trade Organization case against China - Change in tone adopted by the PRC and Xi since he returned to the world stage - Is Japan also in the mood for appeasing China following the Kishida-Xi meeting on the sidelines of APEC - How has Xi been received by global leaders and how much has his diplomatic blitz achieved - What are the implications for Taiwan and the United States