We already know that the USA even under the Biden administration is in no way of allowing the Chinese companies to use its technology that will put the united states under security threats from the Asian country.
However, it seems that the conflict between the two is dragging in third-party spectators as well. as we know, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is one of the three companies in the world that is capable of manufacturing semiconductors on advanced, leading-edge process nodes.
However, access to this technology has been limited by the United States Department of Commerce to entities that act against American national security interests. These entities include China’s Huawei Technologies Ltd. and others with links to the Chinese military.
As such the chairman of TSMC, Dr. Mark Liu has commented on the possibility of armed conflict in Taiwan due to his company’s strategic importance. The company believes that the growing restrictions have raised concerns about an outright conflict between China and Taiwan, with the former forcibly annexing the latter as it remains far behind TSMC when it comes to manufacturing chips.
In a briefing with CBS, Mr. Liu expressed his concern over a growing threat of conflict in Taiwan, and also the same issue was expressed concern over by Intel’s chief Mr. Patrick Gelsinger, who also shared his thoughts on a potential conflict in Taiwan.
Coming over to the impending semiconductor crisis which is currently gripping the tech industries around the globe, Mr. Liu stated that the company is currently working with more than 100% of its original capacity however, the latest threat of a political conflict is causing serious concerns for the company. TSMC’s global competitiveness and increased geopolitical tensions between China and the United States have made Taiwan caught in the middle.
According to Mr. Liu, any conflict in Taiwan is against the interests of all countries in the world. He stated that:
That means the world all need Taiwan’s high-tech industry support. So they will not let the war happen in this region because it goes against the interests of every country in the world.
In the CBS interview, he was also asked whether the chip sector was keeping Taiwan safe, Mr. Liu stated:
I cannot comment on the safety. I mean, this is a changing world. Nobody wants these things to happen. And I hope– I hope not too– either.
Intel’s chief, Mr. Gelsinger, also expressed his thoughts when asked about the importance of China as a global semiconductor consumer and as Intel’s customer.
China is one of our largest markets today. You know, over 25% of our revenue is to Chinese customers. We expect that this will remain an area of tension and one that needs to be navigated carefully. Because if there are any points that people can’t keep running their countries or running their businesses because of supply of one critical component like semiconductors, boy, that leads them to take very extreme postures on things because they have to.
The most extreme would be China invading Taiwan and in the process gaining control of TSMC. That could force the U.S. to defend Taiwan as we did Kuwait from the Iraqis 30 years ago. Then it was oil. Now it’s chipped.
