From Bloomberg via Yahoo Finance, April 20:
Taiwan Quietly Urges US to Calm Rhetoric on China Chip Risk
Spooked by the threat that China might invade Taiwan, the US wants to cut its dependence on the island’s world-beating microchips. Officials in Taipei believe the Biden administration is going too far.
In quiet conversations and back-channel warnings, Taiwanese officials have urged their American counterparts to tone down their rhetoric about the dangers of relying on chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
The officials are particularly unhappy with Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, who has called US dependence on Taiwanese chips “untenable” and “unsafe.” They were also uneasy with remarks by a top Republican lawmaker, Michael McCaul, during a recent trip to Taipei. He said Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is a strategic asset that’s “very vulnerable to invasion.”
“The window’s closing,” McCaul said about a US push to move the chips supply chain out of Taiwan. “We don’t have a whole lot of time.”
Taiwan’s concerns were described by people familiar with the government’s stance who asked not to be identified discussing private conversations.
The nervousness they described highlights the conundrum that Taiwanese officials face in maintaining the island’s role as home to 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductors, which power everything from smartphones to artificial intelligence chatbots, while also trying to attract the military and diplomatic support needed to deter an invasion....
....MUCH MORE
"US mulls scorched earth strategy for Taiwan"
Ummm, have the Taiwanese weighed in on this plan?
I should probably fess up to spreading the hype, going back to 2019:
Related:
- "Can Chinese AI Chip Makers Compete with Nvidia?" (NVDA)
- "China deploys Sun Tzu to win the chip war"
- As Concern Grows Over China’s Invasion Threat To Taiwan the U.S. Military Wants TSMC To Move Some Chip Capacity
- The Chip Wars of the 21st Century
- Chips: Taiwan, Japan Eye 'All Round Cooperation'
- Chips and the CHIPS Act: "Where the Chips Fell"
Earlier on China's failure to launch, semiconductor-wise
August 28, 2019
Chips: How China Is Still Paying the Price For Squandering Its Chance To Build a Home-grown Semiconductor Industry
Should China ever invade Taiwan the TSMC fabs would be quite a prize.
We've looked at this oddity a few times, some links below....
Also at the SCMP, Aug. 28 2019:
Are China’s investments in semiconductors all for naught? US expert says China is at a crossroads
Previously:
July 3, 2019
China to Narrow Chip Gap With Taiwan Invasion
Did I say invade? I meant trade.June 14, 2019
I must have been thinking of China's Defense Minister last month saying "China must be and will be reunited".
With the Taiwanese elections coming up it's probably as good a time as any for Beijing to make some sort of move. Probably not invasion though. China will want to test its military somewhere, our guess is Vietnam, before tackling Taiwan. So probably some sort of fifth column action, cyber, electrical grid etc. And the people to do it are already on the island, I mean if the Chinese could get one of their spies into Dianne Feinstein's office while she was Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee (2009 - 2015), the guy was her San Francisco office manager, not, as reported, the chauffeur, if they could do that there is no doubt they have assets in Teipei.
So where was I?
"China chip industry insiders voice caution on catch-up efforts"
May 1, 2018
Beijing’s big chip push goes into hyperdrive
March 28, 2019
China's AI Dream: The Plan and the Players
January 2018
"Can Chinese AI Chip Makers Compete with Nvidia?" (NVDA)
January 2018
"China wants to make the chips that will add AI to any gadget"
