Taiwan’s Defense Minister pledges to provide defence to TSMC from US threats during Chinese attack

Taiwan’s Minister of National Defense, Chiu Kuo-cheng, has stated that the country’s armed forces will not tolerate any destruction of Taiwanese facilities, responding to a suggestion by US Congressman Seth Moulton that the US should warn China it would ‘blow up’ Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) if it attacked Taiwan. The suggestion was made during a conference organised by the California-based think tank Milken Institute in May, to which US defence policy advisor Michele Flournoy countered that the destruction of TSMC would cause a two trillion dollar impact on the global economy within the first year and ‘put manufacturing around the world at a standstill.’ Chiu’s comments were made during a session of the Legislative Yuan on Monday, and he stressed that the armed forces are responsible for defending Taiwan and its people, materials, and strategic resources, and will not tolerate any destruction of facilities in the country.