Taiwan seeks foreign tie-up to help chip industry

Taiwan's government said it wants the island's ailing memory chip industry to choose between America's Micron Technology Inc. and Japan's Elpida Memory Inc. to help the chip makers consolidate and end a string of massive losses.

The island's six makers of DRAM, or dynamic random access memory, chips have suffered from a glut of supply as the global economic slump saps demand for electronics and machinery run with semiconductors.

"We will set up a strategic alliance with one of the two firms," the Economics Ministry said in a statement Thursday. "We don't rule out a merger if that helps us deepen cooperation."

Speaking at a …