[The Epoch Times, 13 dicembre 2022](Interview and report by Jiang Feng, a reporter from the Epoch Times Special Department) Taiwan chip companiesTSMC extensionThe machine-on ceremony was held at the new factory in Arizona, the current President of the United StatesbidenCongratulations in person.existTSMC extensionBehind the landing in the United States, the dispute between the United States and China looms.
“American manufacturingBack”, December 6,bidenSpeaking at the new facility, he said, “What we do in Arizona matters to the country and to the world.”
Biden said, “This is the world’s most advanced semiconductor chip, which will provide power for iPhones and MacBook computers. Apple used to buy all advanced chips from overseas. Now, more of their industrial chain needs will be met at national level”. It will be a turning point.”
However, in addition to meeting the needs of mobile phone and computer consumers, TSMC has more in-depth considerations for landing in the United States.
Trump pushes TSMC to go to US
TSMC has landed in the United States, and former US President Trump’s (Trump) wish has finally come true. In May 2020, then US President Trump said, “We shouldn’t have a supply chain. What we want is for everything to be made in the United States.” He hopes to bring all the scattered supply chains back to the US the world States. Convincing TSMC to build a factory in the United States is an important step in his goal.
TSMC is the largest chip foundry in the world. Then US Secretary of State Pompeo described TSMC’s landing in the US as a “key conundrum”. He believes TSMC’s chips will be key components in everything from “artificial intelligence to the F-35 fighter jet.”
TSMC accounts for more than half of the global semiconductor market, and when it comes to advanced processors, the figure reaches 90%. TSMC produces the majority of Apple’s approximately 1.4 billion smartphone processors, as well as about 60% of the chips used by automakers.
TSMC’s semiconductors are also used in high-performance computing – they can rapidly process huge amounts of data and guide missiles, making the company extremely valuable in the eyes of the government.
industry observersto expressIf TSMC goes offline, production of everything from cars to iPhones could come to an abrupt halt. Glenn O’Donnell, vice president and director of research at the research consultancy Forrester, told Business Insider: “If China[il PCC]invade Taiwan, it would be the biggest impact on the global economy we’ve ever seen – probably the biggest ever. Impact.”
Biden said four times that he would defend Taiwan with force
Over the past year, US President Joe Biden has stated four times that the US will intervene militarily if the CCP launches large-scale aggression against Taiwan. This breaks with the vague US strategy on the Taiwan issue in recent decades.
Carl Schuster, former operations director of the US Pacific Command’s Joint Intelligence Center in Hawaii, told The Epoch Times on Dec. 9, “For the United States, (Taiwan) is more strategic. Also, it’s a loose entity.” a free country (Republic of China), it is also geographically important to the national security of the United States. Taiwan is the gateway to the Central Pacific. A freedom-loving country (guarding the gate) is the entrepreneurial path to the entire national security of the United States. This is also important for Asian regional strategy and regional stability in Asia. and from the Central Pacific (in the wider area), it can threaten trade between Japan and the Philippines and also undermine US security arrangements for East Asia.
Another reason why Biden has declared four times to defend Taiwan by force is that TSMC plays an important role in the US economy and military.
This was stated by former senior CIA intelligence officer and analyst Martijn RasserReuters: “Washington’s biggest concern is that Beijing may control Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturing capacity”, “This will deal a devastating blow to the US economy and the US military’s ability to deploy its (weapons) platforms” .
A senior Pentagon official told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Dec. 8 that the Biden administration believes it necessary to prevent a Chinese attack on Taiwan, whose semiconductors areTaiwanese securityThe main reason he is “so important to America”.
A major use of semiconductors in the military is in the artificial intelligence of weapons. Artificial intelligence allows machines to surpass humans in problem solving and decision making. It promises to revolutionize warfare and depends on semiconductors.
In a report to the US Congress in March, the bipartisan National Commission on AI Security warned that the “overwhelming majority of state-of-the-art chips” manufactured in Taiwan were not far from the US’s “leading strategic competitor”. The “main strategic competitor” refers to the Communist Party of China.
At this year’s 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the amendment to the party constitution was approved, including the opposition and containment of “Taiwan independence” and other contents included in the party constitution. At the same time, Xi Jinping also told Communist Party of China members that “complete reunification of the motherland” must be achieved. In addition, in the last Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, the “Taiwan Strait Gang”, which has lived for many years in the Eastern Theater of the Communist Party of China, was outstandingly promoted. All of these are considered to imply that the CCP may take action against Taiwan.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on Oct. 17 that Chinese authorities were “significantly accelerating” their plan to annex Taiwan. US Naval Operations Chief Michael Gilday also warned on Oct. 19 that the CCP may forcibly invade Taiwan before 2024. Once the CCP successfully invades Taiwan, TSMC will be in its pocket.
In a report to Congress, the bipartisan National Commission on Artificial Intelligence Security warned: “If a potential long-term adversary outpaces the United States in semiconductors, or suddenly and completely cuts off America’s access to cutting-edge chips , could gain land in every war domain.” Everyone prevails.”
The CCP covets TSMC
The CCP’s economic and military development also urgently need semiconductors. According to an October 2020 report by the US Congressional Research Service, China accounts for 60% of global semiconductor demand. More than 90 percent of the semiconductors used in China are either imported or manufactured locally by foreign suppliers, the report said. In the first quarter of this year, nearly half of Taiwan’s exports to China were semiconductors, a 33 percent increase over the previous year, according to the Republic of China’s Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Chinese 5G giant Huawei was TSMC’s second largest customer until 2020, when the Trump administration ordered the company, which relies on US chip-making equipment, to stop accepting orders from Huawei. However, it still supplies Chinese companies including Xiaomi, OPPO, Horizon Robotics and Bitmain.
Huawei’s ban is an example of US restrictions on Chinese high-tech companies. In recent years, the United States and China have launched all-round competitions in politics, military affairs and technology. US President Biden signed the “Chip and Science Act” in August this year, which includes $52.7 billion in subsidies to support domestic semiconductor research and manufacturing in the United States. Washington wants to work with Taiwanese, South Korean and Japanese companies to build new domestic manufacturing centers while preventing sensitive technology from leaking into China.
The US technological siege has made the CCP feel like a stick in the throat. The CCP is already creating public opinion, demanding to attack Taiwan and take TSMC into the pocket. Chen Wenling, a Chinese economist with a strong official background and chief economist of China’s think tank “International Economic Exchange Center,” said in May this year that when the United States and other Western countries imposed destructive sanctions on the CCP as sanctions against Russia, China “Taiwan must be recovered”.
He said TSMC needs to be grabbed. Chen Wenling also said, “They (TSMC) are speeding up their move to the United States and want to build six factories in the United States. We must not let them realize all the goals of the move.”
TSMC expands plans to build factories in the US
TSMC and the United States have joined forces to break the wishes of the CCP. On Dec. 5, Brian Deese, chairman of the White House Economic Council, told the media that TSMC will build a 3nm factory near the existing plant, which is expected to begin construction in 2023 and begin mass production in 2026. it would increase TSMC’s investment in Arizona from $12 billion to $40 billion. Also, the process introduced by TSMC in the Arizona fab will be upgraded from the original 5nm to 4nm.
Carl Schuster told The Epoch Times that the threat of the CCP’s invasion of Taiwan is one of the reasons the United States wants TSMC to build a factory in the United States.
“TSMC has grown into a major chip maker critical to the automotive, aerospace and defense industries. It offers everyone an independent choice. Any free country, including Taiwan (Republic of China), exerts any influence. Thus, strengthening its position in the chip market, TSMC moved production to the US, provided an alternative to China, and reduced influence.”
Responsible Editor: Lian Shuhua#
