TSMC Photo: VCG

The suspicion that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) may become "USSMC" is continuing to grow. After the new US government repeatedly accused Taiwan of "stealing the US' chip business" and threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan chips, recent rumors from some US media outlets said that the US government might push for a joint venture between TSMC and Intel. TSMC is regarded by some people on the Taiwan island, especially by the "green camp," as "a mountain that protects the island," but one of the major reasons why the company's assets are being quickly moved out of Taiwan and flowed to the US is that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have taken it as a "pledge of allegiance" for "relying on and pandering to the US."

Under the coercion of the US, TSMC announced in 2020 that it would invest $12 billion in Arizona to build a semiconductor fab that will utilize the company's 5-nanometer technology for semiconductor wafer fabrication. Subsequently, TSMC's investment plans in the US has been expanding again and again - by April last year, the amount of planned investment has increased to over $65 billion to build a third fabrication plant by 2030. At the same time, "TSMC will keep its most advanced semiconductor technologies in Taiwan" has become an empty talk, as the company has agreed to use the most advanced 2-nanometer process technology in the second fab in Arizona.

The US "extreme pressure" on TSMC continues. The new US administration is threatening to "cancel" the high subsidies promised to TSMC by the Joe Biden administration, leaving TSMC at risk of losing about $6 billion of US government subsidy, while Washington has threatened to force TSMC out of Taiwan by raising tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan. The US media recently reported that at the request of US government officials, TSMC may take over the chip manufacturing business of Intel Corp. Public opinion on the island of Taiwan believes that if this joint venture program becomes reality, TSMC may repeat the fate of Toshiba and Alstom, and be reduced from a global chip giant to an appendage of the US' industrial chain.

The operating costs of TSMC's US factories are 30 percent higher than those in Taiwan. TSMC's decision to go to the US was not a business decision, but a surrender to political pressure. TSMC founder Morris Chung-Mou Chan has said more than once that the US' push to increase domestic chip production would be "a wasteful, expensive exercise in futility," but "a prime minister has the power to cede territory, and powerless ones have no way to change the situation." TSMC has been sending out calls for help, but the DPP authorities have only silently cooperated with the US' request to "cede land" and allowed TSMC to be dismembered and sold out.

TSMC recently held its board of directors meeting in the US. This is the first time in more than 30 years since its establishment that TSMC has held its board of directors outside Taiwan. Prior to this, the DPP authorities, under pressure from the US, had given up some seats on TSMC's board of directors, allowing foreign directors to account for 60 percent. Public opinion on the island is worried that the US has a clear tendency to influence TSMC's decision-making through the board of directors, and TSMC may completely become "USSMC" and lose its autonomy.

In response to the latest pressure from the US, Lai Ching-te, the regional leader of the DPP authorities, offered a bunch of empty rhetoric, such as strengthening "Taiwan-US communication," enhancing mutual understanding, and expressing a willingness to collaborate with the US and other "democratic partners" to develop more resilient and diversified semiconductor supply. He previously proposed increasing the "defense budget" to over 3 percent of the island's GDP, intensifying efforts to "resist the Chinese mainland," expanding investments and procurement from the US and strengthening cooperation with the US in AI and advanced semiconductor technology development. Public opinion in Taiwan is skeptical, suggesting that Lai's attitude may not only fail to persuade the US to give TSMC a break but could instead help the US to devour the TSMC at an even faster pace. Netizens on the island have criticized the DPP authorities, saying they are "clinging to a big leg only to get bitten," questioning who is really selling out Taiwan.

The US treats TSMC as a "feast on the table," blatantly seizing it from Taiwan island. The US military even once proposed the idea of "destroying TSMC," making it clear that if the US couldn't have it, it would rather see it destroyed. This once again proves that the US always follows the principle of "American interest First."

Lai sees the US as a "partner," relies on it as a "patron," and clings to it as a "powerful backer," believing that the US cares about Taiwan island's interests or even the interests of "Taiwan independence." This is nothing more than wishful thinking, self-deception, or a desperate attempt to numb himself to reality. The consequences of blindly "relying on" and "flattering" the US have already become evident, and TSMC is the best example. 

After all, the US only sees Taiwan island as a tool. Once it has squeezed out all Taiwan's remaining value, the pawn will be discarded. The more the DPP relies on the US, the greater the harm it brings to the Taiwan region. Taiwan's future and well-being lie in the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and national reunification. It is utterly absurd that the DPP authorities treat their fellow compatriots as "enemies" while placing their fate in the hands of foreign powers!