Recent media reports indicate that Chinese companies are using “U.S. technology” to build supercomputers for use in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s simulation facility for developing “supersonic missiles,” in which the chips are designed by Taiwan’s Worldcore Electronics Corporation and manufactured by TSMC. Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Meihua also helped clarify that TSMC’s products comply with Taiwan and U.S. regulations, but unexpectedly, the U.S. Department of Commerce immediately blacklisted seven technology companies, including Feiteng, directly hitting Wang on the grounds that these entities assisted the Chinese Communist Party’s military operations and undermined stability.
The report pointed out that TSMC will not be able to take orders for production from Feiteng, because the proportion is very small, the impact on TSMC shadow limited, before Huawei Hesi was expanded by the U.S. sanctions to the current tight capacity situation, from Feiteng production capacity is very small, the gap will be more other customers to grab.
The orders from Feiteng are small, but the accusation of helping the enemy develop weapons is serious. Isn’t TSMC helping the CCP develop the most advanced missiles in line with the communist propaganda: “As long as you have money, even if you have to buy the rope used to hang the capitalists, the capitalists will still sell it to you.” It is really worrying and disappointing. We do not condemn TSMC because TSMC is only a private company and does not have the ability or responsibility to judge what the other party is buying chips for, and the responsibility lies with the “Taiwan government”.
Taiwan companies are “secretly in cahoots” with China
Are Taiwan’s technology manufacturers really helping the old Communist Party? Mr. Hsieh Chin Ho, chairman of Caixin Media, gave us the answer, pointing out on his Facebook page that “for the past year, the US has almost blocked China’s access to semiconductor sources, but the only breakthrough is in Taiwan. He said that there are many companies in Taiwan that ‘secretly communicate’ with China, including many ‘leak cases’, or Taiwan’s ‘tech talent poaching’, or The U.S. has started to keep an eye on Taiwan because of the ‘flow of important technology to China’.”
Chairman Hsieh knows that “many companies in Taiwan have secret connections with China”, but does the Taiwanese government not know that? The answer is “of course I know”.
A few days ago, the media disclosed that the Taiwan government established a think tank, “National Defense Security Research Institute” researcher Ou Xifu to defend TSMC: “These private companies do business, and do not consider national security and other factors. But Ou admitted that “both the United States and China have eventually used TSMC’s chips for military purposes”. Ou’s comments confirm that the Taiwanese government has long known that “Taiwanese manufacturers have been supplying military chips to the Chinese PLA”. The real truth is that Taiwan is caught between the dilemma of relying on Washington to defend itself against Beijing’s invasion and relying on the Chinese market (which accounts for 35 percent of Taiwan’s trade). Neither dare to violate US policy nor offend the Chinese Communist Party.
Furthermore, Taiwan’s Worldcore Electronics, which works with Feiteng to design chips and places orders with TSMC, said that the agreement it signed with Feiteng stipulates that its chips are not to be used for military purposes. But a 2018 Worldcore press release also described their work with the “Chinese National Supercomputing Center,” which had long been blacklisted by the U.S. Department of Commerce for its involvement in nuclear explosions.
Is the Taiwanese government serious about treating the Chinese Communist Party as an enemy?
The question is, the Chinese Communist Party has been threatening to “unify Taiwan” for decades, and has been diplomatically suppressing Taiwan. But has Taiwan seriously considered the CCP as an enemy?
According to the above discussion, the Taiwan government does not care where TSMC’s chips are sold and what they are used for. As long as the customer indicates that it is for “commercial use”, the US will get by without protest. If the Chinese Communist Party were to use force against Taiwan, and Taiwanese manufacturers were to assist in developing “weapons to attack Taiwan,” would this not be an act of treason?
I hope Taiwan’s government can pull itself together, face reality, and study how to stop high-tech companies from “secretly collaborating” with China, and prevent Taiwan’s technological talent from being poached or important technological technologies from flowing to China. The survival of Taiwan and the well-being of more than 20 million Taiwanese are at stake, and this cannot be done in a perfunctory manner.
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