Any Chinese Attack On Taiwan Poses Greater Threat To Global Trade Flows Than Ukraine War As It Will Cause Huge Semiconductor Shortage: Taiwanese Official

Any potential Chinese military attack on Taiwan would have a greater impact on global trade flows than the Ukraine war, a senior Taiwanese Minister John Deng warned on Tuesday (Jun 15).

Deng, who is also Taiwan’s top trade negotiator, said that a Chinese military invasion will lead to a shortage of semiconductors,

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has triggered commodity price hikes and food export bans.

In case China decides to launch a full-scale attack on Taiwan, the potential disruptions could be worse, Deng said, citing the world’s dependence on Taiwan for chips used in electric vehicles and mobile phones.

“The disruption to international supply chains, disruption on the international economic order, and the chance to grow would be much, much [more] significant than this one,” Deng said in an interview to Reuters on the sidelines of a WTO ministerial conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

“There would be a worldwide shortage of supply,” Deng said.

Taiwan dominates the world's semiconductor manufacturing industry – controlling 48 per cent of the foundry market and 61 per cent of the world's capacity to build at 16nm or better. Taiwanese semiconductor exports were worth $118 billion in 2021