3/22/23 | Taiwan Roundtable | Semiconductor Supply Chains in the Indo-Pacific: The Role of Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan

The resiliency of supply chains in the Indo-Pacific now poses a central challenge for the U.S. and its partners in the Indo-Pacific. Taiwan’s unparalleled dominance in the global semiconductor industry places it at the forefront of any strategy on semiconductor supply chains. Taiwan, together with South Korea and Japan account for over 90 percent of the world’s semiconductor production.

How well are Taiwan, South Korea and Japan positioned to deal with the ongoing supply chain stresses and what are the economic and security implications to watch for? Join the Sigur Center for Asian Studies for a discussion bringing together perspectives on these three key players.

Taiwan: Navigating Its Central Role and the Spinoffs

South Korea: Rising Role and Choices

Japan: Japan’s Chip Challenge: Getting Back to the Future

Speakers

Lotta Danielsson is the Vice President of the US-Taiwan Business Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing the trade and commercial relationship between the United States and Taiwan.

Ms. Danielsson is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Council. Her work includes membership retention and development, research on current Taiwan policy issues, and research to identify the needs of U.S. businesses in Taiwan. She oversees all member products and services, and manages the development of new value-added membership services. She also oversees all events and conferences, and she has planned the annual U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference – which serves as an important platform for bilateral dialogue on Taiwan’s national security and defense needs – since its inception in 2002. In addition, Ms. Danielsson supervises responses to member requests, prepares press releases, manages websites and social media, and acts as the Council editor. She has served as Vice President since 2003, when she was promoted from Director of Corporate Affairs, a position she had held since joining the Council in 2000.

As a student in the three-year International MBA program (Chinese Track) at the University of South Carolina, Ms. Danielsson spent 19 months studying Mandarin Chinese in Taipei, Taiwan and in Beijing, China. She was a consultant and marketer for the Beijing Sun-King Paper Company, where she worked with the management team to develop new marketing and administrative strategies and to launch a new paper brand into the Beijing market. Prior to entering the MBA program, she was Laboratory Director at New South Associates in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Ms. Danielsson also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from Georgia State University. She has lived, studied, and worked in Asia, Europe, and North America, and is a native level speaker of Swedish and English.

Daniel Aum is an Associate at the Institute for Corean-American Studies and a former Harold W. Rosenthal Fellow both with the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, Central Asia, and Nonproliferation. He was the Senior Director for Public Affairs and Washington D.C. Director at the National Bureau of Asian Research. He served as a fellow with the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. He also worked on an international strategic litigation team at Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights.

Mr. Aum has published in political science journals, such as Defence and Peace Economics and North Korean Review, as well as in foreign policy outlets, including The National Interest, The Diplomat, East Asia Forum, South China Morning Post, The National Bureau of Asian Research, and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Mr. Aum is currently a PhD candidate in international affairs, science, and technology at Georgia Tech. He received his JD from the George Washington University Law School, a Masters in Asian Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and a BA in philosophy from Baylor University.

Jeffrey D. Bean is Program Manager for Technology Policy and Editor at Observer Research Foundation America. He manages research on critical and emerging technologies, particularly semiconductors and 5G, and implements the activities of the Global Cyber Policy Dialogues. Concurrently, as editor, he reviews all research reports and papers ahead of publication for the organization.

Prior to joining ORF America, Mr. Bean was a Visiting Fellow at East-West Center and Tama University, where he conducted research on U.S.-Japan relations and emerging technology supply chain disruption with a focus on semiconductors.

Previously, Mr. Bean was editor of the Asia Policy Blog, CogitAsia, for the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), where he oversaw publications and produced podcasts for the CSIS Asia Programs. In this role, Mr. Bean was responsible for tracking political, trade, technology, and security developments throughout the Indo-Pacific.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Bean worked as a research assistant with the Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, where he managed projects that focused on Asian regional cooperation and U.S.-China relations. He is the author of over two dozen articles and reports as well as the producer of nearly one hundred CSIS podcasts on policy issues in Asia.

Mr. Bean holds an M.A. in security policy studies from George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs where he was a highest honors fellow and a B.A. in international affairs and political science from James Madison University.

Moderator

Deepa Ollapally is a political scientist specializing in Indian foreign policy, India-China relations, and Asian regional and maritime security. She is Research Professor of International Affairs and the Associate Director of the Sigur Center. She also directs the Rising Powers Initiative, a major research program that tracks and analyzes foreign policy debates in aspiring powers of Asia and Eurasia.

Dr. Ollapally is currently working on a funded book, Big Power Competition for Influence in the Indian Ocean Region, which assesses the shifting patterns of geopolitical influence by major powers in the region since 2005 and the drivers of these changes. She is the author of five books including Worldviews of Aspiring Powers (Oxford, 2012) and The Politics of Extremism in South Asia (Cambridge, 2008). Her most recent books are two edited volumes, Energy Security in Asia and Eurasia (Routledge, 2017), and Nuclear Debates in Asia: The Role of Geopolitics and Domestic Processes (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).

Dr. Ollapally has received grants from the Carnegie Corporation, MacArthur Foundation, Smith Richardson Foundation, Ford Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Asia Foundation for projects related to India and Asia. Previously, she was Associate Professor at Swarthmore College and has been a Visiting Professor at Kings College, London and at Columbia University. Dr. Ollapally also held senior positions in the policy world including the US Institute of Peace, Washington DC and the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India. She is a frequent commentator in the media, including appearances on CNN, BBC, CBS, Diane Rehm Show and Reuters TV. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University.