A man walks past the TSMC logo at the company’s headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Sam Ye | AFP | Getty Images
If China invades Taiwan, then the world’s most advanced chip factory will be rendered inoperable, TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said in an English-language interview with CNN this week.
In the undated interview, Liu said that if Taiwan was invaded by China, the chipmaker’s plant would not be able to operate because it relies on global supply chains.
“No one can control TSMC by force. If you take military force or an invasion, you will make TSMC’s factory inoperable,” Liu said. “Because it’s such a complex manufacturing facility, it depends on real-time communication with the outside world, with Europe, with Japan, with the US, from materials to chemicals to spare parts to engineering software and diagnostics.”
TSMC is the world’s most advanced chip maker, making processors for US companies including Apple and Qualcomm. TSMC makes Apple’s A-series and M-series chips and owns over 50% of the global semiconductor foundry market.
The remarks were aired as tensions between China and Taiwan escalated in recent days when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island nation.
“War has no winners, everyone is a loser,” Liu said.
Last week, the House of Representatives passed the Chips and Science Act, which set aside billions of dollars in incentives to build chip factories across the US. President Biden is expected to sign the bill into law on Tuesday.
Supporters of the legislation say it is critical to national security to ensure the supply of efficient and advanced chips for U.S. use if China invades or otherwise hampers chip production in Taiwan.
While much of the stimulus in the bill would go to American companies like Intel, TSMC is building a $12 billion factory in Arizona that could benefit from the subsidies.
Liu compared a potential conflict in Taiwan to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year, saying that while the two conflicts are very different, the economic impact on other countries would be similar. He encouraged political leaders to try to avoid war.
“The war in Ukraine is not good for either side, it’s a lose-lose-lose scenario,” Liu said.
Liu said an invasion would cause economic turmoil for China, Taiwan and Western countries. He said TSMC sells chips to consumer-oriented Chinese companies that need TSMC’s services and supply of advanced computer chips.
“How can we avoid war? How can we ensure that the engine of the world economy continues to hum and let us have fair competition,” Liu said.
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