On September 15–16, the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) co-hosted the two-day Oxford Semiconductor Conference in the United Kingdom. The conference convened policymakers and experts from key supply chain countries—including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, the European Union, and Mexico—bringing together stakeholders from think tanks, government agencies, the semiconductor industry, the financial sector, and the defense community to examine the geopolitical challenges posed by emerging technologies.
As the only policy research institute from Taiwan participating as a co-organizer, DSET engaged in Track 1.5 multilateral dialogue to strengthen collaboration with like-minded partners in industrial and security domains. Discussions centered on four major themes: cross-border critical minerals supply chains, energy security and AI infrastructure, military applications of AI tools, and multilateral export controls.
The DSET delegation included CEO Dr. Jeremy Chih-Cheng Chang, Director of the Energy Resilience Program Dr. Tsai-Ying Lu, Deputy Director of the Economic Security Program Min-Yen Chiang, and Non-Resident Fellow Ting-Wei Lin.
During the session on export controls, Dr. Chang stressed that democratic nations must work to safeguard fair competition and innovation while countering China’s unfair trade practices. He cautioned that although export controls remain a critical instrument for curbing China’s AI chip development, they should not be expected to serve as the sole solution to the risks posed by Beijing’s state-led semiconductor strategy. Instead, democracies need to diversify policy tools and coordination mechanisms to respond effectively to global supply chain challenges.
Participants also voiced concerns about the evolving nature of U.S. export control measures, their close linkage with U.S.–China trade negotiations, and the inherent policy uncertainty. Drawing on Taiwan’s experience, Dr. Chang observed that U.S. government agencies face capacity constraints, leaving ambiguities in policy details that complicate industry compliance. At the same time, governments worldwide, wary of domestic industry exposure to policy fluctuations, tend to retain greater autonomy—potentially narrowing the space for multilateral coordination.
In a session on AI and energy supply, Dr. Lu highlighted Taiwan’s AI development strategy launched in 2022, which includes support for AI startups, server supply chains, and personal data protection regulations. Nonetheless, she noted persistent challenges such as grid transmission bottlenecks and surging demand for renewable energy. While data centers currently account for only 1.3%–2.2% of Taiwan’s electricity consumption, achieving national computing power goals and ensuring 24/7 operations will require significant upgrades.
Dr. Lu emphasized that Taiwan’s competitiveness will depend on developing distributed power grids, increasing on-site power generation for data centers, deploying backup systems, and adopting high-efficiency cooling technologies. She noted that Taiwan already possesses industrial strengths in power supply equipment through companies such as Delta Electronics and Lite-On Technology. Leveraging these advantages within Taiwan’s broader hydropower infrastructure and supply chain should form a central component of its long-term AI development strategy.
