Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-on Thursday demanded to assure his citizens that a plan by a Taiwanese chip giant to spend $ 100 billion in the United States expressed concern at home this week.
The world’s largest chip manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced on Monday that in the next four years it would expand its operations in Erizona to create chips for artificial intelligence and other high-tech applications. President Trump has pressured Taiwan to loosen his dominance among advanced semi -circulars and transfer production to the United States, and warned of heavy tariffs if his demands are not met.
But the TSMC’s declaration also shook the debate and misconception in Taiwan, which is a democratically ruled island, where many people see the chip area as an important economic column and is a shield against the potential aggression by China, which claims that it is part of its area. Commitment to TSMC will increase its employed expenditure in the United States to $ 165 billion, which is doubled with its previous commitments.
Mr. Lai, at a news conference in Taipei on Thursday with CC WeI, Chief Executive Officer of TSMC, said the scheme was good for TSMC, Taiwan and the United States.
“We have seen every time that with each initiative by TSMC, TSMC has become even stronger and more competitive, while Taiwan’s businesses provide international cooperation opportunities and contribute to Taiwan’s greater strength,” Mr. LAI told the presidential reporters. He said that Taiwan can now “confidently cross the Pacific Ocean and expand the American continent on the east.”
Mr. Wei said that TSMC’s decision was based on commercial views – saying that the company was not bowing under political pressure. “We have analyzed a lot, and I have communicated with all my customers,” he said. “It turns out that TSMC’s current expansion plan in the United States is not enough to meet their demand.”
The company’s production in Taiwan will not be hurt by its increasing investment in the United States, Mr. Wei said.
Not everyone is confident in Taiwan. “When TSMC invests so much capital and takes its most advanced manufacturing processes in the United States, what has Taiwan achieved in turn?” Wang Hung-VaiAn MLA from Taiwan’s opposition Nationalist Party said at a news conference this week.
TSMC officials have earlier insisted that the company will keep its most advanced factories in Taiwan. The company has invested a network of billions of growing deep roots and highly specific suppliers in Taiwan. While it has opened new factories in Japan and Arizona, its most sophisticated chips are still made in Taiwan.
Mr. Lai’s government is trying to respond to Mr. Trump’s complaints that Taiwan spends little on its own rescue, trade surplus with the United States, and stolen a semiconductor business from American companies.
Any breakdown with Mr. Trump would be a crisis for Taiwan, which has been turned into its main political and military supporters against the possible threats from China in the United States for decades. Beijing claims the island as its territory and says that it can use the force to take it if its leaders have not seen any hope for peaceful integration.
Last month, Mr. Lai promised to grow Taiwan’s military expenses are more than 3 percent of their economic production, this year from about 2.45 percent. Mr. Trump and the officials around him have said that Taiwan should be devoted to 5 percent, or even 10 percent to his economy.
Mr. Trump on Monday announced the new TSMC’s new commitments with Mr. Wei at the White House. This investment will help avoid tariffs on chips made in TSMC Taiwan, Mr. Trump said.
Investment will expand the footprint of TSMC up to six from three manufacturing plants in Arizona, add 25,000 jobs and create a research and development center to develop production processes. Apple is the largest customer of facility. TSMC also forms chips for Nvidia, AMD, Qualcomm and Broadcom.
Despite its global significance, TSMC is away from the media’s attention, and its officials rarely question journalists. Chief Executive Officer Mr. Wei suggested that he did not draw attention.
He said, “Life has been a little stressful recently,” he said, “I will have to meet two presidents in such a short time, and the media will also have to meet with friends, and then the questions have to be answered.”
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