The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday said that chips from Taiwanese semiconductor companies were not making their way into Chinese missiles “to the best of our knowledge.”
A report in yesterday’s Washington Post alleged that a Chinese company named Phytium Technology Co (飛騰) used chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), along with US software, in advanced Chinese military systems.
“TSMC has long placed strict controls on their chips. The export of high-tech products from Taiwan is also highly regulated,” Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said.
Photo: Zha Chunming / Xinhua via AP
“According to our understanding, none of the end uses for those products was military,” she added.
“To the best of our knowledge, TSMC’s exports not only meet Taiwanese standards, they also comply with applicable US regulations,” Wang said. “If information emerges that shows differently, we will of course investigate.”
Given the high volume of chip exports from Taiwan, the Bureau of Foreign Trade would educate exporters more to ensure that Taiwanese and international regulations are being followed, Wang said.
“TSMC has a rigorous export control system in place, including a robust assessment and review process on shipments to specific entities that are subject to export control restrictions,” the chipmaker said in an e-mailed response to the report.
“Moreover, TSMC has put in place processes to help identify abnormal circumstances in a transaction with due-diligence follow-up. With these processes already in place, we are not aware of a product manufactured by TSMC that was destined for military end-use, as alleged in the coverage,” it said.
The Washington Post article cites Ou Si-fu (歐錫富), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research (國防安全研究院), as well as an anonymous analyst.
Ou told the Taipei Times by telephone that he cannot speak specifically in regards to Phytium, but that the use of Taiwanese chips in Chinese military equipment would be “hard to trace.”
“The problem is that the chips are dual-use technology. They can be bought off the shelf for one application and then used in military equipment that is aimed right back at Taiwan,” Ou said.
Current Taiwanese and US safeguards for preventing Taiwanese chips from ending up in Chinese munitions are inadequate, Ou said, adding that meaningful measures for tightening up the flow of chips to China must come from the US.
“The US is ultimately in control of the upstream technology and equipment for the chips, even though Taiwan is the manufacturer,” Ou said. “They must be the ones to crack down.”
When asked whether Taiwanese can simply choose not to sell advanced chips to China, Ou said that it was unlikely.
“It would be asking them to voluntarily make less money and offend the Chinese at the same time,” Ou said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source