China Wants Taiwan Microchip Industry Amidst Global Shortage
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent
Date Published: 2021-05-01 09:55PM UTC
Last Modified: 2021-05-03 11:22PM PST
There is a growing microchip, or semiconductor shortage happening in the world as a result of the world's lock-downs and China consumes 60% of the world's microchips and semiconductors. Taiwan, a country that China claims is their territory manufactures 60% of the worlds microchips and semiconductors.
In 2020, China had apparently foreseen the global shortage that was about to happen and had been stockpiling and buying up microchips and semiconductors made in Taiwanese factories.
Martijn Rasser, a man from a Washington think tank said "Semiconductors are the ground zero of the global technology competition. They're in everything that we need to function as a society".
During his presidency, Donald Trump blacklisted many Chinese based companies which included China's top producer of microchips and semiconductors in order to hinder China's ability to use the technology to manufacture weapons of war. There were even reports that China has been using American microchip technology in its advanced weaponry.
There is no sign that Biden is changing course in that respect, as he has stated that he will not be undoing Trump's blacklisting of the companies. In fact, Biden has been putting more restrictions on Chinese companies, blacklisting 7 Chinese super computing companies building super computers for China's military.
This has not only greatly inflated prices for technology that uses microchips and semiconductors, but has inevitably put a lot of pressure on China to not only fulfill its own demand, but potentially control the worlds microchip market.
Rasser stated, "by gaining control over Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, China would control the global market. They would have access to the most advanced manufacturing capabilities and that is even more valuable than controlling the world's oil."
China has already tried stealing the technology from Taiwan as well as poach talent from the country, to no avail. Taiwan, realizing what was going on has banned recruitment from China and told staffing companies to remove job listing in the communist state.
Taiwan's economy minister Wang Mei-hua stated, "Affected by the U.S.-China technology war, the development of mainland China’s semiconductor industry has been obstructed, but they are still committed to the industry’s development. In order to achieve self-sufficiency in the supply chain, poaching and infiltration are the quickest way for mainland China to do this".
If China can't steal the technology, or poach Taiwan's talent then many believe that China may be under enough pressure to try to invade Taiwan, take control of it's microchip industry and reign in control of the global market itself through the use of force.