At a hearing held in the U.S. Congress on Tuesday, February 23, Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google , pointed out that Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturer TSMC is crucial to the national security of the United States. The US Foreign Policy magazine also pointed out at an internal seminar held on the same day that TSMC has been swept into the competition between China and the United States due to TSMC's special position in the global semiconductor industry.
So what kind of company is TSMC? What ability does it have to become the strategic core of the competition between China and the United States?
What is TSMC?
TSMC, full name is Taiwan Integrated Circuit Manufacturing Company, headquartered in Hsinchu, Taiwan, is the world's largest wafer foundry company. Wafers refer to the silicon wafer used to make silicon semiconductor circuits. The fact that TSMC's largest shareholder is Taiwan's administrative agency. Although TSMC's equity structure, the proportion of foreign shares is far higher than that of Taiwan's administrative agencies, because these foreign shares are very scattered, most of them are just financial investments and will not have an impact on TSMC's production and operation. Therefore, overall, even though TSMC is an "equity company", it can still be regarded as a "state-owned enterprise" in essence.
Why is TSMC so important to the United States?
Because most high-tech companies in the United States are inseparable from the semiconductor support produced by TSMC.
For example, companies such as Nvidia, , Qualcomm, , AMD, and Apple in the United States all rely heavily on TSMC's wafer foundry. In other words, about 65% of the demand in the US market is met by TSMC.
In addition, TSMC is also the world's largest chip manufacturer. TSMC has the most advanced 7nm process technology and is developing and preparing mass-produced 3nm process. In addition, TSMC has also made breakthroughs in the research and development of 2nm advanced processes.
Take the world as an example. As of 2019, the United States only accounted for 11% of the global semiconductor manufacturing capacity, while South Korea accounted for 28%, Taiwan accounted for 22%, Japan accounted for 16%, mainland China accounted for 12%, and Europe accounted for 3%. Therefore, to a certain extent, TSMC can be regarded as one of the centers of the global technology supply chain.
From electronics processors to automotive chips for household cars, and even as large as fifth-generation fighter - F-35 fighter of Lockheed Martin , the US F-35 fighter must use TSMC chips.
is so visible that TSMC's share in the world's semiconductor market is almost at a "ruling level". No wonder as cross-strait relations heat up and the competition and cooperation between the mainland and the United States surface, the United States has begun to feel "deeply worried" about TSMC's strategic position.
TSMC has been included in the key strategic target by the United States
Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, pointed out at this hearing that due to the heating of the cross-strait situation, if the United States relies heavily on Taiwan chips, it will make itself very dangerous.
Tom Cotton believes that because the United States relies heavily on TSMC, the United States should "more protect" TSMC from "external interference" from competitors.
is due to the separation of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the rise of the mainland. In the view of the United States, Taiwan's living space is becoming increasingly worrying.
, especially the United States, is most worried that once the mainland one day unifies Taiwan, it is tantamount to directly bringing TSMC, which is deeply dependent on the United States, into the mainland's control. Once the mainland decides to attack the United States in the "technology war", then directly restricts the output of chips to the United States through TSMC, which can not only achieve twice the result with half the effort, but also directly greatly reduce the cost of competing with the United States.
So in the final analysis, it is because the United States is too dependent on TSMC, which makes it very nervous about TSMC's "strategic survival".
As Stephen Izel, vice president of global innovation policy at the American think tank Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, said: "Risk is not entirely dependent on a company itself, but on a company that is trapped in a strategic hotspot. Although TSMC is a great innovator and a reliable partner. But concerns are not there. Worries are more strategic."
The future world will gradually divide the technology camps by geopolitics
TSMC's founder Zhang Zhongmou said in November 2019 that the current world is no longer a peaceful world, and TSMC has become a "must-fight place for geostrategists."
On the one hand, it is because the United States has such a deep dependence on TSMC; on the other hand, it has not yet fully realized semiconductors in the mainland. When the goal of self-sufficiency is still needed, TSMC's semiconductor supply is still needed; geopolitical confrontation around TSMC has gradually formed.
However, as the mainland has long realized the seriousness of the Taiwan issue , in addition to stepping up the promotion of unification work, it also vigorously supports SMIC's semiconductor industry; in addition, the United States has also realized the seriousness of over-reliance on TSMC, so it decided to cooperate with other countries including Taiwan, including Japan, South Korea, Australia and other countries to accelerate the escape. In the strategic material supply chain, when the degree of dependence is related to the mainland, this situation is enough to show that the future world will further form its own technology camps through geopolitics.
However, there may still be variables in the competition and cooperation between the mainland and the United States, but the strategic attributes of TSMC, a "place that must be fought for" may not be changed. Therefore, the Taiwan issue will inevitably be resolved. In the subsequent chess game, TSMC is not only a good chess that can be used to kill the other party, but also a chess piece that can be used to protect the other party. The main rescuer's live chess.
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