Biden-Xi talks to boost stability in Taiwan Strait: Taipei envoy

Talks between US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week – and agreement to restore military communications – will likely improve stability in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s chief delegate to an economic summit said Friday. “I really think it was a good meeting, it was good news that they resumed military communications,” said Morris Chang, who is in San Francisco as Taiwan’s envoy for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit. “I think that it should help to reduce the tension between US and China, and it should increase the stability of the Taiwan Strait,” Chang told reporters. Chang, 92, is founder of semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has ramped up military pressure against it in recent years. Taiwan is a key point of tension between Washington and Beijing. On Friday, Chang said he did not have any talks with Xi this week, although he had discussions with US officials including Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Vice President Kamala Harris. He also had informal interactions with Biden. But he expressed support for US export curbs aimed at cutting off China’s access to advanced chips that are key to developing AI tech and cutting-edge weapons. “At least in chips, free trade is almost dead,” he said. On US efforts to boost its own semiconductor industry, Chang noted that for the United States to set up a facility like TSMC is “an impossible matter in the short term.”