US-Taiwan council likes China plans

The US-Taiwan Business Council expressed support on Tuesday for Taiwan's plans to approve more applications by Taiwanese chipmakers to move 8-inch wafer fabs to China and to allow the use of 0.18-micron manufacturing technology in China.

"Taiwan's willingness to relax its China investment regulations continues an incremental approach to liberalization of Taiwan's cross-strait technology relationship with China," said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the council, in a press statement.

"The council supports these steps, as they will strengthen Taiwan's competitiveness and increase the attractiveness of Taiwan companies to America's technology community," he added.

The US-Taiwan Business Council urged Taiwan to finalize its policies on 0.18 micron and China fab investments as soon as possible and to explore further areas for cross-strait technology liberalization.

Last Friday, Huang Chin-tan (黃慶堂), head of the Investment Commission, told the Taipei Times that the government was considering lifting the long-term restriction on local chipmakers to invest in China by year's end.

This would take place after the commission reaches a consensus with the Mainland Affairs Council, Huang said.

Huang that two computer memory chipmakers, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) and ProMOS Technologies Inc, (茂德科技) will be allowed to set up one 8-inch wafer fab each in China by the end of this year.

The government would also allow local semiconductor firms to produce chips with relatively advanced 0.18-micron processing technology, he said at the time.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (台積電), which is now using 0.25-micron technology in its Chinese production facilities, is applying to use 0.18-micron technology to make chips in China.