Democratic U.S. senators from Michigan and Ohio last week asked
the Taiwanese government to help address the shortage,given that
the island is a major semiconductor producer and seen as central
to efforts to resolve the problem.
Wang said the top U.S. diplomat in Taiwan, Sandra Oudkirk, had
raised the issue of chip shortages during a meeting on Monday.
"I mentioned that Taiwan is doing its best to assist on the
chips," Wang told reporters in Taipei.
MCU, or microcontroller units commonly used for auto chips,
production rose 60% in the first half compared with the same
period last year, she added.
"We are working as hard as we can."
Wang has been personally involved in seeking to get Taiwanese
chip makers to speed up production and has repeatedly said the
government and industry are doing all they can.
Wang's ministry, responding to the letter on Saturday, said
global supply and demand for auto chips should reach a "balance"
by the fourth quarter of 2021, reiterating its commitment to
doing its part to tackle the shortage that has closed production
lines around the world.
The issue has taken on a strong diplomatic hue as Taiwan
scrambles to reassure the United States, its most important
international supporter and arms supplier, that it is doing all
it can, especially at a time when Taipei is facing increased
military pressure from China, which views Taiwan as its own.
Last month, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC),
the world's largest contract chipmaker, said the auto chip
shortage would gradually ease for its customers from this
quarter but it expected overall semiconductor capacity tightness
to extend possibly into next year.
Taiwan's Foxconn, which assembles Apple's iPhones, cautioned
this month it needed to watch closely whether the worsening
COVID-19 crisis in Asia would further rattle the global tech
supply chain.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; editing by David
Evans)
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