Taiwan needs Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), but the company also needs a free and open country to allow it to develop, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said yesterday at the legislature.
The world also needs TSMC, and needs Taiwan to maintain its place in the global supply chain, he added.
The premier was responding to questions from legislators related to TSMC founder Morris Chang’s (張忠謀) comments broadcast on the US news program 60 Minutes on Monday.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Speaking to reporter Lesley Stahl, Chang said that China would not attack Taiwan because TSMC is there.
When asked by Stahl what created the belief of the “silicon shield” or “chip shield,” Chang said: “It means that, perhaps, because our company provides many chips to the world, maybe somebody will refrain from attacking it, if that person’s priority is for economic well-being, I think they will refrain from attacking.”
After reiterating the remarks to Su, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-feng (謝衣鳳) asked the premier what Taiwan would do if TSMC left the country.
Photo: Screen grab from CBS “60 Minutes”
The government is aware of the possibility that TSMC could move elsewhere, but as much as Taiwan needs it, the semiconductor firm needs a free and open country like Taiwan to expand and develop its technologies, Su said.
Chang said the US has extended an offer for TSMC to establish factories in the US, Su added.
To highlight TSMC’s commitment to Taiwan, Su cited a statement made by TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音), who said in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, broadcast on July 31, that no one would win in a Chinese invasion.
“Nobody can control TSMC by force, because TSMC runs such a sophisticated manufacturing facility,” Su cited Liu as saying.
Su then referred to Chang’s statements in the 60 Minutes interview regarding the chance that China might try to nationalize TSMC within its “one China” framework.
“If there is a war, it will be destroyed; everything will be destroyed,” Chang said.
This would prove ruinous for the semiconductor industry and microchip manufacturing industry worldwide, Su said.
TSMC was not built in a day, Su said, adding that the environment in Taiwan has allowed it to become the company it is today, showing the world what only Taiwan can provide.
TSMC’s success contributes significantly to why large manufacturers and companies seek to establish headquarters or research centers in Taiwan, Su said.
“The success of TSMC has made Taiwan globally visible and supported,” he added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS