The US plans to blow up TSMC ... and China tech-industry news article dump

[Delicieuxz]

Chinese chip and tech-industry news is constantly emerging, and presents a picture of rapid development that is consistently exceeding Western predictions by a large margin, despite extreme US efforts to restrain and undermine China's progress. Here is some of the recent news on this topic.

 

 

2022-12-13 - Dutch chip equipment maker ASML's CEO questions U.S. export rules on China - ASML CEO essentially accuses the U.S. of using the semiconductor sanctions on China as a pretext to steal market share from European firms like his

2022-12-13 - China readying $143 billion package for its chip firms in face of U.S. curbs

2023-03-23 - China frees top chip investor to bolster semiconductor efforts - Head of Hua Capital released from detention as Beijing seeks expert help to navigate tough western sanctions

2023-03-29 - China’s 12-inch Wafer Production Capacity Increasing Quickly

2023-03-29 - US bans good for Chinese chipmakers, and bad for us, says Taiwanese rival - Beijing investing locally in advanced nodes will mean it buys locally, says MediaTek chairman

2023-03-30 - China’s ‘Big Fund II’ makes intensive investments, as country aims to overcome US chip ban

2023-04-08 - China's Loongson Unveils 32-Core CPU, Reportedly 4X Faster Than Arm Chip - The 3D5000 has come out of the oven.

2023-04-19 - Tech war: China’s Guangdong province doubles down on semiconductor expansion with 40 new projects worth US$74 billion, says top official

2023-04-20 - U.S. sanctions will not halt rise of China's chip industry - Beijing still holds advantages while America struggles to boost domestic output

2023-04-23 - China’s top memory chip maker YMTC making progress in producing advanced 3D NAND products with locally sourced equipment

2023-04-25 - Huawei’s ERP software overcomes US sanctions - Chinese tech giant replaces legacy Enterprise Resource Planning software just three years after Oracle forced to cut off its service

2023-05-02 - ‘We have survived!’: China’s Huawei goes local in response to US sanctions - Tech group is trying to lead way for Chinese companies eager to reduce reliance on western technology

 

 

One especially-ominous component of the US' anti-competition strategy is a plan to destroy TSMC, should there be a risk of China gaining control over Taiwan.

 

The US plan to blow up TSMC if China gains control over Taiwan isn't new. And while there's no clear timeline for when events might happen that could see the US trying to destroy TSMC, the risk that things could trigger at any moment, and the likely catastrophic consequences for chip and hardware availability and prices if they do, was a significant motivating reason for me to build a new PC earlier this year, to ensure that I wouldn't have to stay on my 12 year-old, overclocked, i7 2600K system for another decade.

 

Since building my new PC, aggressive postering and statements have continued to emerge from the US, to the point that TSMC and Taiwan are telling the US to knock it off, and warning that Taiwan will defend itself from the US, should it attempt to destroy TSMC. It reminds me of the phrase that begins "With friends like these...".

 

I wonder how quickly store inventory will disappear, and what scalping might be like, if a conflict does break out.

 

 

2022-11-30 - US won’t let China take Taiwan chip-makers ‘intact’ - While speculation continues over the fate of Taiwan’s semiconductor factories in the event of an invasion by Beijing, US Ambassador O’Brien emphasises the importance of denying China the chipmaking infrastructure.

2023-04-20 - 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.

2023-05-09 - Defense minister says Taiwan will not let US 'blow up TSMC' during Chinese attack - 'If they want to bomb this or that,' armed forces will not tolerate this kind of situation

2023-05-09 - Taiwan Will Defend TSMC From US Bombing in the Event of a China War

 

Elbridge Colby is a former US Pentagon strategist, and was "Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development" from 2017 through 2018.

 

[ravenshrike]

Please, I guarantee that TSMC has a plan set up to get all the management and essential personnel out of Taiwan and into the US in case of invasion with their blessing to destroy the plant upon successful CCP occupation.  Now they can't say that publicly of course, but make no mistake such plans are in place.

[Delicieuxz]

9 minutes ago, ravenshrike said:

Please, I guarantee that TSMC has a plan set up to get all the management and essential personnel out of Taiwan and into the US in case of invasion with their blessing to destroy the plant upon successful CCP occupation.  Now they can't say that publicly of course, but make no mistake such plans are in place.

Say that hypothetically was a plan. All that would accomplish is getting a few people out of Taiwan. It wouldn't be screwing over the Taiwanese people any less, and it wouldn't dampen the catastrophic, long-term impact on global chip supplies. Chip foundries aren't created overnight, and they're immensely, immensely expensive to build.

[ravenshrike]

Just now, Delicieuxz said:

It wouldn't be screwing over the Taiwanese people any less

I'm sorry, do you think that the Taiwanese would continue running things and benefit from it? They would immediately be forced to teach mainlanders their jobs,how to operate the machinery, and then replaced, arrested as political prisoners, or outright disappeared as soon as possible.

[Delicieuxz]

10 minutes ago, ravenshrike said:

I'm sorry, do you think that the Taiwanese would continue running things and benefit from it? They would immediately be forced to teach mainlanders their jobs,how to operate the machinery, and then replaced, arrested as political prisoners, or outright disappeared as soon as possible.

Again, chip foundries are immensely expensive to build, and China certainly wouldn't torch TSMC. Taiwan's economy (which would then be part of PROC's economy) depends on exports, with chips accounting for 15% of Taiwan's GDP. And so, the Taiwanese people would absolutely continue to benefit from TSMC's chip production.

 

 

Taiwan’s dominance of the chip industry makes it more important - No industry matters more to Taiwan than chipmaking

Quote

They are the chips that power everything from mobile phones to electric cars—and they make up 15% of Taiwan’s gdp. Taiwan produces over 60% of the world’s semiconductors and over 90% of the most advanced ones. Most are manufactured by a single company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (tsmc). Until now, the most advanced have been made only in Taiwan.

 

[Poinkachu]

27 minutes ago, ravenshrike said:

I'm sorry, do you think that the Taiwanese would continue running things and benefit from it? They would immediately be forced to teach mainlanders their jobs,how to operate the machinery, and then replaced, arrested as political prisoners, or outright disappeared as soon as possible.

Well, if I am Taiwan, and let's say your previous guess is correct, my thought will be like this :

"If TSMC manage to safely move to US, then US would most likely no longer have stronk enough reason to help us"

If really needed, I (Taiwan) will "do my best" to prevent TSMC core unit going to US.

 

As for whether or not China will "erase" TSMC personnel, unless they are very wildly uncontrollable, I'd say China won't "erase" them.

Prohibited from going out of country without really strict supervision, of course.

Because there might be new ideas & method coming out from the brain of the subject.

Anywho, given enough time & with some datas, they'll be able to operate the machinery by themselves. I mean... it's China, the country where a lot of imitations made.

 

Plus, TSMC moving to US would most likely means teaching US as well.

 

Just my thoughts based on my own logic.

[leadeater]

Since this is entirely political the topic has been moved to Off Topic and locked