Taiwan to probe suppliers helping Huawei build chip plants under the radar across southern China
- Taiwan’s minister of economic affairs said she would look into whether the firms are conducting their businesses in China within the scope of approved activity
- Several Taiwanese tech firms are helping Huawei build infrastructure for a network of chip plants, according to a Bloomberg investigation
Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua told lawmakers Wednesday her agency has agreed to launch a probe into that unusual relationship. She was responding to a request by ruling Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker Lai Jui-lung during a legislative session that followed a Bloomberg News report this week identifying four firms working on chip plants backed by Huawei in China. Lai asked for a preliminary report on the probe within a month.
The local Central News Agency also cited an unidentified Economic Affairs ministry official saying its investment department will look into whether the firms are conducting their businesses in China within the scope of an original application approved by Taipei.
Several Taiwanese technology companies are helping Huawei build infrastructure for an under-the-radar network of chip plants across southern China, Bloomberg News reported, an unusual collaboration that risks inflaming sentiment on a democratic island grappling with Beijing’s growing belligerence.
They included a unit of Taiwanese chip material reseller Topco Scientific, Cica-Huntek Chemical Technology Taiwan, a subsidiary of Taipei-based L&K Engineering, and a subsidiary of construction specialist United Integrated Services, according to a Bloomberg News investigation.
The Taiwanese presence in Huawei’s efforts could trigger a backlash given tense relations between the island and the Chinese Communist Party, which claims the territory as its own. The rocky relationship is a key issue in Taiwan’s presidential election in January.
The four firms are assisting with waste water and environmental projects, and these are not core technologies restricted by the Taiwanese government for China, Wang told lawmakers.
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday that reports of a chip breakthrough by Huawei are “incredibly disturbing” and emphasised that her department needs more ways to enforce its export-control regime.