Taiwan Warns: Global Economic Losses Will Be Greater Than Russia-Ukraine War If Communist China Attacks Taiwan

On June 16th, John Chen-Chung Deng, a councilor of the Executive Yuan and chief negotiator with the Office of Trade Negotiation (Taiwan), said at a WTO ministerial meeting that if Chinese Communist Party (CCP) attacks Taiwan, it would have a huge impact on the world economy and create a supply shortage for semiconductor chips.The WTO is one of the few international organizations in the world where both sides of the Taiwan Strait send representatives and can work side by side.As Deng said at the WTO meeting that if CCP attacks Taiwan, the war would disrupt the international supply chain, impact the international economic order, and affect growth opportunities far more than the current Russia-Ukraine war. In addition, the war would create shortages in the supply chain of semiconductor chips used in electric cars and cell phones, of which the world relies heavily on Taiwan. It is reported the total value of Taiwan’s exports last year reached $446.4 billion, of which $118 billion came from semiconductor chip exports.At the meeting, Deng accused CCP of violating WTO rules by banning imports of goods from the small Baltic country Lithuania because of its support for Taiwan, as well as preventing imports of fruit and grouper from Taiwan out of political considerations.Although political and military relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are very tense, trade between the two sides is very active. As mainland Communist China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner and source of trade surplus, Deng hopes Taiwan should reduce dependence on Communist China in trade.