Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers on Monday accused the government of “ruining” Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by “gifting” it to the US due to pressure from Washington, adding that the move would hollow out Taiwan’s economy.
“It is the KMT that cultivated TSMC and turned it into a leader of the semiconductor industry, but now the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] government is giving it away. TSMC will surely become ‘USMC’ in the future,” KMT caucus convener Tseng Ming-chung (曾銘宗) told a news conference at the legislature.
KMT caucus deputy secretary Wu I-ding (吳怡玎) said that “the DPP government is not only pressuring it [TSMC] to set up plants abroad, it is also giving away gifts, such as Taiwanese experience and talent in chip production, to other countries,” Tseng said.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
“In doing so, the DPP has ruined TSMC as well as Taiwan’s economy,” he added.
TSMC had total capital expenditure of about NT$1.8 trillion (US$58.65 billion at the current exchange rate) from 2019 to last year, which is equivalent to about 12 percent of overall domestic capital expenditure in Taiwan, Tseng said.
“It [TSMC] is an important leader of the nation’s economy, and has supply chain and industry clusters in Taiwan, as well as a vital role in the global economy,” he said.
“TSMC is now building a plant in Arizona with initial investment of US$12 billion. The 4-nanometer chip facility is due to start production in 2024. It is also planning a 3-nanometer plant with US$40 billion investment,” he added.
“Meanwhile, its main competitor, Intel, also has a plant in Arizona for 4-nanometer and 3-nanometer chips, only an hour’s drive away from TSMC’s plant,” Tseng said.
“Industry executives and experts have said Intel would be the winner by taking new technology from TSMC and improving its production yield rate,” he said.
“Intel offers salaries three to five times higher those offered by TSMC... It is tantamount to TSMC training engineers and technicians for Intel,” he added.
“We demand that the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) provide the support needed to come up with concrete policies to keep the ‘Silicon Shield’ in Taiwan,” Tseng said.
KMT Legislator Alex Fai (費鴻泰) said the domestic semiconductor industry accounts for about 20 percent of Taiwan’s GDP and about one-third of the nation’s exports.
“TSMC has already sent 1,000 engineers to Arizona and the number is expected to reach 2,000 by the end of next year,” he said.
“When 3-nanometer chip production begins in 2026, it [TSMC] will have to poach engineers from Taiwan’s other semiconductor firms,” he added.
“The brain drain of Taiwan’s semiconductor professionals to the US would escalate in the coming years. Then what will Taiwan be left with?” Fai asked.
“TSMC is in its 35th year, but since President Tsai assumed office, she has caved in to pressure from the US government on the pretext that TSMC’s cutting-edge technology for producing advanced chips must not fall under China’s control,” he said.
KMT lawmakers also reiterated their version of TSMC’s establishment.
Fai said Taiwan had two outstanding figures — Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿), who served as economics minister and premier from the 1960s to the early 1980s, and economist Lee Kuo-ting (李國鼎), who served as finance and economics ministers, as well as a Cabinet adviser, from the 1960s to the 1980s.
“When Sun took charge as premier, he asked Lee to convince [TSMC founder] Morris Chang (張忠謀), who was then working at Texas Instruments in the US, to move to Taiwan by offering a higher salary and other promises,” he said.
“Chang then headed up the Industrial Technology Research Institute, then he founded TSMC in 1987,” 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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS