In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday.
Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years.
She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate assessment.
Photo: Bloomberg
“I actually have doubts over the report. I believe TSMC should be at least 10 years ahead, particularly now it has advanced to produce chips of 2 nanometers,” Wu Cheng-wen said.
Based on TSMC’s earnings report released in July, the research and development of 2-nanometer chips has proceeded smoothly, with devices equipped with 2-nanometer chips producing expected or better-than-expected yield performances.
Mass production of 2-nanometer chips would be launched next year as scheduled, the company said.
The Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently announced that it has developed a deep ultraviolet lithography system that enables it to produce chips on a scale as small as 8 nanometers.
A Deutsche Welle report said that Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Co might be able to manufacture chips using 9 nanometer technology as it has applied for a series of extreme ultraviolet lithography-related patents from the China National Intellectual Property Administration.
Meanwhile, other lawmakers inquired about Taiwan’s dramatic fall in the computing power world ranking Top500 List.
The computing power of super computer Taiwania 2 has fallen to No. 106 this year from No. 20 in 2017.
Wu Cheng-wen said that Taiwan used to focus on the development of hardware needed for artificial technology, but it is time to focus on AI applications, which would help expand the nation’s computing power.
Taiwan’s computing power in the public sector is about 19 petaflops, which would gradually increase in the next few years, he said.
A one petaflop computer system is capable of performing one quadrillion floating-point operations per second. One quadrillion is a thousand trillion.
“We hope to enter at least the top 30 in the world,” he said.
Based on a plan laid out by the NSTC, it is expected to complete the construction of 280 petaflops of computing power in 2028, and the target is to increase to 480 petaflops in 2029, he said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS