TSMC is sounding the warning about a potential Chinese invasion, saying such an eventually would effectively shut down the chipmaker.
TSMC is the world’s leading semiconductor manufacturer, with its chips used in smartphones, computers, and other products. Apple, Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, Nvidia, and MediaTek are just a few of the companies that rely on TSMC’s foundries, as do many Chinese companies. With the ongoing threat of a Chinese invasion, companies and governments are increasingly concerned about what the impact would be.
In an interview with CNN, TSMC Chair Mark Liu directly addressed the concerns, saying an invasion would hurt everyone.
“The war brings no winners, everybody’s losers,” Liu said.
When asked if China would consider invading Taiwan specifically to control TSMC, which it relies on heavily for its semiconductors, Liu made it clear that controlling TSMC by force would not work.
“Nobody can control TSMC by force,” Liu added. “If you take a military force or invasion, you will render TSMC factory not operable. Because this is such sophisticated manufacturing facilities, it depends on the real-time connection with the outside world, with Europe, with Japan, with US, from materials to chemicals to spare parts to engineering software and diagnosis.
“If you take it over by force, it can no longer make it operable.”
The interview comes at a time when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is visiting the island, bringing condemnation from China and a warning of “targeted military operations.”