Taiwan should join any global semiconductor supply chain alliance against China to protect its technological advantage and national security, according to Wang Che-jen (汪哲仁), an assistant research fellow at the government-funded Institute for National Defense and Security Research.
In a paper titled “Automotive chip shortage: A look at Taiwan’s strategic place in the semiconductor supply chain,” Wang wrote that a shortage of automotive chips has highlighted Taiwan’s strategic place in the global semiconductor industry.
The shortage shows that the supply chain for such products has become a matter of diplomatic, security and strategic concern, he added.
Photo: Ben Blanchard, Reuters
One of the ways technologically advanced nations are tackling the problem is by attracting foreign chipmakers to set up plants on their soil, Wang said.
The US and Japanese governments, for example, have invited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to build facilities, he said.
However, Wang warned against such a move, saying that while it might help shorten global supply chains, it could also weaken Taiwan’s strategic advantage in the semiconductor industry.
“For Taiwan to maintain its ‘silicon shield,’ it needs to persuade European countries and the US that keeping TSMC in Taiwan is the best option,” he wrote.
Wang also warned that Taiwan should beware of China’s efforts to poach talent, given the latter’s goal of becoming 70 percent self-sufficient in chip production by 2025.
“Judging from experience, China’s poaching efforts will only increase,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US semiconductor industry has been urging US President Joe Biden’s administration to form a semiconductor alliance with like-minded countries to prevent technological espionage by China, he said.
The government should guide Taiwan’s technology companies to join such an alliance to protect the nation’s technological advantage and national security, Wang said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designer specializing in server chips, expects revenue to decline this year due to sagging demand for 5-nanometer artificial intelligence (AI) chips from a North America-based major customer, a company executive said yesterday. That would be the first contraction in revenue for Alchip as it has been enjoying strong revenue growth over the past few years, benefiting from cloud-service providers’ moves to reduce dependence on Nvidia Corp’s expensive AI chips by building their own AI accelerator by outsourcing chip design. The 5-nanometer chip was supposed to be a new growth engine as the lifecycle
RSS