Chinese Tabloid: US Tricked TSMC Into Building Ariz. Factory to Steal Secrets

Unsurprisingly, TSMC’s decision to invest billions building a chip factory in Arizona has upset China, but one newspaper has gone a step further and accused the US government of trickery.

As the South China Morning Post(Opens in a new window) reports, Chinese national tabloid newspaper the Global Times refers to the Arizona investment as “a dark turn” for the global semiconductor industry. It then goes on to suggest that the US government has managed to trick TSMC into building the factory so as to steal the technology developed in “our Taiwan region.”

Although this isn’t a view stated directly by the Chinese government, the Global Times is affiliated with the People’s Daily, which is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party. We also know that the high level of censorship and control within China means newspapers there aren’t allowed to print anything the government doesn’t approve of.

The editorial post by the Global Times was published as China faces an uncertain future for its chip manufacturing industry and supply chain. The country has effectively been cut off from the latest technology by US export sanctions, foreign investment by an executive order, and is currently considering a switch to developing RISC chips as an alternative way forward.

China’s current situation isn’t helped by the fact that Chinese students think making chips is “too hard and not that well-paid,” so even if the government somehow secures access to the manufacturing technology it needs, there may be not be enough qualified people available to make semiconductors at scale.