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US-China tech war
TechTech War

Semiconductor giant TSMC’s decision to cooperate with Washington’s chip data request fuels anger in China

  • The US government said its request was aimed at finding out reasons for the chip shortage but the move has raised alarm bells in China
  • One account on Chinese social media Weibo described TSMC’s agreement to hand over information as ‘kneeling to the US’

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A TSMC logo is seen at its headquarters in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Photo: Reuters
Che Pan

The decision by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to comply with a US request for information has stirred anger and uneasiness in China over fears that Washington could use the information to sanction Beijing, even though the Taiwan chip maker said it will not reveal confidential client information to the US government.

TSMC, the single-most important player in the global semiconductor industry, said in a statement on Monday that it will “respond to” a request by the US Commerce Department seeking information from companies in the chip supply chain, a list that also included South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and US chip firm Intel.

It is still unknown what specific information TSMC will provide to the US, but the company said it will not disclose “confidential information” from clients and “will not harm the rights of our customers and shareholders.”

The assurances, however, failed to ease concerns on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

While the US government said its request was aimed at finding out reasons for the chip shortage – and no Chinese company was directly involved – the move has raised alarm bells in China.

Xi Chen, an academic committee member at Peking University’s Institute for Global Cooperation and Understanding, said earlier that the data could potentially help Washington impose sanctions on Chinese companies in a more precise way.
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