Although the share price of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) has fallen significantly amid concerns over worldwide inflation, US billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway spent a massive US$4.1 billion on the chipmaker’s American depositary receipts.
Reporting on Buffett’s investment in TSMC, some Chinese-language media outlets have said that it would give the Taiwanese economy a shot in the arm.
Although TSMC has planted its flag in various countries around the world, Taiwan is still its most important base. The US invited TSMC to set up a plant in Arizona, because it was worried that its source of cutting-edge chips would dry up if China attacks Taiwan and TSMC’s domestic facilities are destroyed.
The US outshines Taiwan in terms of key equipment and materials for silicon wafer production, but even when TSMC’s US plants start mass production, they would still not be able to replace production in Taiwan.
TSMC founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) has said that Taiwan is the only place where TSMC can make such high-end chips.
There are many reasons for this, including Taiwan’s outstanding talent, technology and corporate culture. Moreover, a highly integrated supply chain formed by industrial clusters surrounding TSMC cannot be easily enticed to move away from Taiwan.
Another aspect that receives less attention is Taiwan’s circular economy. The semiconductor industry uses many chemicals, and because of the precision chipmaking requires, most of them, such as photoresists, etchants, phosphoric acid and hydrofluoric acid, cannot be reused. In contrast to the metal-processing industry, chipmakers can only use these chemicals for one round of processing.
There are many highly specialized businesses in Taiwan that process chipmakers’ waste chemicals and, after separation and purification, supply them for use in downstream industries.
Take the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) as an example: There are recycling plants that serve its chip plants in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Townshhip (湖口) and Taoyuan’s Dayuan (大園) and Guanyin (觀音) districts, all within a radius of 100km of the park. Although these companies use conventional chemical industrial processes, the specific nature of their business and their deep familiarity with chipmaking waste materials make them an indispensable “venous industry” for the sustainable development of the semiconductor industry.
The Industrial Development Bureau certifies recycled chemicals’ environmental friendliness.
Taiwan’s resource-recycling industries enable its chipmakers to fully comply with the UN’s sustainable development goals. The nation has established a comprehensive audit and management system for the recovery and reuse of chemicals in the semiconductor industry. In terms of a circular economy manufacturing system, these advantages would be hard for any company to re-establish in another country after leaving Taiwan.
Taiwan’s success in this respect is something that could be worth sharing with other countries.
Chen Wen-ching is executive director of the Formosa Association of Resource Recycling.
Translated by Julian Clegg
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.
As Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu’s party won by a landslide in Sunday’s parliamentary election, it is a good time to take another look at recent developments in the Maldivian foreign policy. While Muizzu has been promoting his “Maldives First” policy, the agenda seems to have lost sight of a number of factors. Contemporary Maldivian policy serves as a stark illustration of how a blend of missteps in public posturing, populist agendas and inattentive leadership can lead to diplomatic setbacks and damage a country’s long-term foreign policy priorities. Over the past few months, Maldivian foreign policy has entangled itself in playing
A group of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers led by the party’s legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (?) are to visit Beijing for four days this week, but some have questioned the timing and purpose of the visit, which demonstrates the KMT caucus’ increasing arrogance. Fu on Wednesday last week confirmed that following an invitation by Beijing, he would lead a group of lawmakers to China from Thursday to Sunday to discuss tourism and agricultural exports, but he refused to say whether they would meet with Chinese officials. That the visit is taking place during the legislative session and in the aftermath