Be on guard against China
An article published by the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) on Friday titled “Quick action required to prevent Taiwan’s semiconductors from entering Hong Kong’s market” said that the unusually large amount of semiconductor products exported from Taiwan to Hong Kong might not only be to supply China, but to support Russia’s war in Ukraine.
As someone in the electronics industry, I cannot agree more. As Taiwan’s semiconductor industry takes a leading position in the world, the more it becomes the focus of attention.
Due to mergers and acquisitions, we have in recent years witnessed many senior positions in high-tech companies gradually fall into the hands of Chinese capital and multinational companies being controlled by Chinese branches. Chinese employees rise to the top and make confidential decisions that affect the company’s development and even the international market. Those decisions are beneficial to China’s economy and investment, but might not be in the company’s interests.
This reflects China’s strategic change in the semiconductor market. In the context of the US-China trade war, the Chinese government has adopted more covert methods, no longer relying solely on its own research-and-development capabilities, but using mergers, acquisitions and investments to quickly acquire key technologies.
Author Chris Miller writes in Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology that the US needs to suppress Huawei Technologies, because China’s current trade war is fought with semiconductors, but it allows Huawei to use US designs.
Stealing trade secrets and buying technology companies to make up for its technological shortcomings are China’s old tricks. We must be vigilant. Future warfare would not only be about military confrontations, but would also include wars of technology and information. In the face of China’s oppression, Taiwan must be highly alert, especially in the field of semiconductors. Taiwan must also be careful of the risks and breaches caused by the “China factor.”
We call on the government to pay more attention to this potential national security risk as soon as possible and take immediate countermeasures to protect Taiwan’s core interests from infringement.
Shih Li
Tainan
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