U.S. intelligence has long believed China may try to attack and conquer Taiwan by the end of next year, acting on its belief in a "One China" ideal and disputed historical claims. "Taiwan is part of China, period," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted on social media last July. "The Taiwan question is China's internal affair. How to resolve it is a matter for the Chinese people and Chinese people only."
That kind of rhetoric could make it challenging to attract new investment to the self-governing democracy of 23.3 million people. But Charles Chi-Yu Chou, director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Miami — essentially Taiwan's consul general — is crisscrossing the state trying to build relationships to benefit Florida's and Taiwan's economies.
"The threat is always there," Chou says. "During the past 70 years, our people do business as usual. Our economic development cannot be affected by China. We keep on working." Clearly. Taiwan's economy boomed in 2025, with 8% GDP growth.
Dubbed "Silicon Island," Taiwan is considered dominant in the global semiconductor industry. Last year, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Florida Commerce Secretary Alex Kelly, pledging to work together to facilitate trade that emphasized semiconductor and advanced manufacturing, aviation and aerospace, life sciences, logistics and supply chain, agriculture and marine technology and resilience. Florida is battered by hurricanes, Chou says, while Taiwan suffers from typhoons.
Since then, respective delegations have visited with Taiwanese counterparts learning about high-tech industry here and Florida cattle, among other things. Taiwan imports $700 million in American beef each year, Chou says, and talks are underway to secure meat from cattle raised in Florida. He's also hoping to one day see direct flights from Orlando and/or Miami to Taiwan.
"Miami is the gateway," he says. "It's the center of the hemisphere."
In October, Kelly and Secretary of State Cord Byrd led a Florida delegation to Taiwan where they explored partnerships between state and Taiwanese universities on high-tech business including advanced packaging — another Taiwanese strength — and photonics. It resulted in a partnership between Florida Polytechnic University outside Lakeland and Taiwan's National Chin-Yi University of Technology that includes faculty exchanges and possible collaborations on mechanical and electrical engineering, advanced manufacturing and more.
Florida engaged in nearly $197 billion in foreign trade in 2024, reports SelectFlorida, the state's public-private economic development arm. Exports accounted for $89.1 billion and imports $107.8 billion. Imports included nearly $1 billion from Taiwan and nearly $10 billion from China, but Taiwan is not among Florida's 30 largest export markets. Taiwan's imports were led by vaccines created in Florida, airplane parts and iron scrap.
Chou would like to change that, noting Florida's leadership in space commerce and life sciences. "In these sectors, everything is in the (computer) chips" that Taiwan can provide.
"We want to work together to help our economy keep growing." — By Michael Fechter