An article in the Washington Post (April 7) claimed that Phytium, a Chinese company with close links to the PLA, manufactures microprocessors produced at factories outside Taipei by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which now makes the world’s most advanced chips, having surpassed the United States. It quoted Si-fu Ou, a fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a think tank co-founded by Taiwan’s defense ministry, as saying TSMC, the largest of several Taiwanese chipmakers, is in the unusual position of manufacturing chips “that end up being used for military purposes by both the United States and China." He added "These private companies do business and don’t consider factors like national security, the United States has a relatively complete set of export control measures and regulations, while Taiwan is relatively loose and has more loopholes.” TSMC said in an email to The Washington Post it obeys all laws and export controls and has a “robust assessment and review process on shipments to specific entities that are subject to export control restrictions.” TSMC spokeswoman Nina Kao said “We are not aware of a product manufactured by TSMC that was destined for military end-use as alleged in your email.” In an official statement released on April 9, Taiwan`s Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua told reporters that TSMC had not provided chips for final military use and was following its own and Taiwan`s export control regimes.
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