A technological cooperation agreement was signed between the two countries. Berlin risks angering China, its main trading partner. The German authorities hold advanced talks for the construction of a TSMC factory -the world’s leading chip producer- in Germany. The knot of EU subsidies.
Taipei () – The German Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, attended today the signing of a scientific and technological cooperation agreement between her country and Taiwan. The Taiwanese side stressed that the agreement covers sectors such as microchips, artificial intelligence, lithium batteries and sustainable energy development.
It had been 26 years since a German minister had visited Taipei. This is a sensitive issue for Berlin, given its close economic ties to Beijing. In 2022, for the seventh consecutive year, China confirmed itself as Germany’s first trading partner.
In the last two years, Western political representatives, mainly Europeans, have intensified their trips to Taiwan. Unsurprisingly, these missions infuriate the Chinese: for China, Taipei is a “rogue province” that must be reunified even by force. Beijing does not want the governments with which it maintains formal diplomatic relations – such is the case of Germany – to maintain state relations with the Taiwanese, as this is seen as supporting the island’s independence forces.
However, Germany remains the European country best placed to host the first European factory of Taiwan’s TSMC, the world’s largest chip maker. As reported Reutersthe Taiwanese company is in advanced negotiations with the government of Saxony, a state in eastern Germany.
The plant is expected to be built in the Dresden industrial area, a major technology hub; production will most likely focus on automotive chips, the flagship of the German industry.
The conclusion of the agreement, however, depends on TSMC obtaining subsidies from the German authorities, which in turn resort to funds allocated by the European Union under the Chips Act, the European plan to autonomously produce part of the necessary semiconductors. for their own technological development.
