China could use military force to claim Taiwan's supply of microchips, warn experts

[Taimoor Khan]

Of course. Luck only favors those who do not include it in their plans.

LOL. Indeed. I hope there is a plan to begin with, rather wishful thinking.

 

[VCheng]

LOL. Indeed. I hope there is a plan to begin with, rather wishful thinking.

Oh there are lots of plans, but as one of your famous previous PMs once observed, Americans can be trusted to do the right thing always, after trying everything else. The same will happen with Taiwan too.

 

[Taimoor Khan]

Oh there are lots of plans, but as one of your famous previous PMs once observed, Americans can be trusted to do the right thing always, after trying everything else. The same will happen with Taiwan too.

Thats the thing, I dont see the damn plan. only wishful thinking.

 

[VCheng]

Thats the thing, I dont see the damn plan. only wishful thinking.

I will call Pentagon and the WH to share those plans with you immediately!

Seriously though, China needs to be mindful of how it approaches the freedom of navigation issues with its neighbors in the SCS, not just with USA. Merely staking claims will never be enough.

 

[Taimoor Khan]

I will call Pentagon and the WH to share those plans with you immediately!

Seriously though, China needs to be mindful of how it approaches the freedom of navigation issues with its neighbors in the SCS, not just with USA. Merely staking claims will never be enough.

Please do, so far its just haphazard ranting and incoherent diatribes . So far rest of the world is enjoying this comedy show. . But hey, no a serious note, for the sake of world peace, this should remain a comedy show.

 

[VCheng]

Please do, so far its just haphazard ranting and incoherent diatribes . So far rest of the world is enjoying this comedy show. . But hey, no a serious note, for the sake of world peace, this should remain a comedy show.

No wollies!

As things develop, please be sure to participate in the discussion of how good the comedy is, and by which side. Over and out until then!

 

[beijingwalker]

Oh they can. They just have some Chinese "scientist" buy an American chip and replace the logo with a Chinese logo.

No, we use Indian chips which is the best in the world.

 

[Jackdaws]

No, we use Indian chips which is the best in the world.

If you wish to flatter Indians to get more Chinese refugees in, please use a better line.

 

[Taimoor Khan]

No wollies!

As things develop, please be sure to participate in the discussion of how good the comedy is, and by which side. Over and out until then!

Let's see if those defeated Americans troops in Afghanistan endup in south China theater.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

You have half knowledge. All the technology of TSMC, ASML, Samsung etc are from USA. USA is the only country which has advanced research on semiconductor. ASML can't magically make lithography machines without any long term R&D. It was USA who started the R&D in 1960s on silicon chips and hence it has an advantage over others in that. Netherlands did not start any R&D on chips. Taiwan, Korea etc were backwards till 1990. How can they suddenly get latest lithography? Are they superhumans?

OK All the technologies in the world belongs to USA. Happy now.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

You have half knowledge. All the technology of TSMC, ASML, Samsung etc are from USA. USA is the only country which has advanced research on semiconductor. ASML can't magically make lithography machines without any long term R&D. It was USA who started the R&D in 1960s on silicon chips and hence it has an advantage over others in that. Netherlands did not start any R&D on chips. Taiwan, Korea etc were backwards till 1990. How can they suddenly get latest lithography? Are they superhumans?

Just do us a favour,
stop your low derogatory trolling
as a staff in PDF will described statement such as yours.

It does not concern India or Indian anyway.
You should have other concerns today and I don't even want to name it as I will similarly be accused of LD trolling.

That is why I don't argue with trolls.

I am just following their advice.

 

[ziaulislam]

China could use military force to claim Taiwan's supply of microchips, warn experts
In its bid to become self-reliant in manufacturing microchips, experts fear that China could use military force to gain control over Taiwan's semiconductor industry.
ANI | Beijing | Updated: 04-05-2021 19:18 IST

In its bid to become self-reliant in manufacturing microchips, experts fear that Chinacould use military force to gain control over Taiwan's semiconductor industry. Taiwanis currently the largest global producer of microchips that power cars, phones and computers.

Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security said microchips will be crucial for developing technology going forward, the Express reported citing his interview with Fox News. "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," he said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is currently preparing for an ever more likely military invasion from China. Taiwan's Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, warned that China seems to be preparing for their final military assault against Taiwan.

"We are trying to make more investment in our military, especially the asymmetric type of warfare to deter the Chinese from thinking about using military force against Taiwan," he said in a statement. Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. (ANI)

China could use military force to claim Taiwan's supply of microchips, warn experts | International

In its bid to become self-reliant in manufacturing microchips, experts fear that China could use military force to gain control over Taiwan's semiconductor industry.

www.devdiscourse.com

A BS article though, all Taiwan businesses are closely linked with the Chinese mainland, Mainland doesn't need the military means to control Taiwan's semiconductor industry.

Who manufacturers the machines that help in semi conductors manufacturing?
Look it up!

 

[Smarana Mitra]

Just do us a favour,
stop your low derogatory trolling
as a staff in PDF will described statement such as yours.

It does not concern India or Indian anyway.
You should have other concerns today and I don't even want to name it as I will similarly be accused of LD trolling.

That is why I don't argue with trolls.

I am just following their advice.

Who is trolling? I am telling facts and I am giving solid reasoning. It is you who are trolling by simply insisting that what you say is right without giving any argument, reasons, history etc.

I am not talking here on political grounds but purely on a technological ground. I am not interested in favouring USA or China but simply telling the facts about semiconductor industry as a whole. I have done good amount of research to know the facts and history of semiconductors. You don't seem to know anything other than a few fancy names and superficial details. Yet here you are calling others as trolls!

 

[TigerOfMysore]

which proves my point that China cannot build micro chips

China’s Drive to Make Semiconductor Chips Is Failing
The stunning success of U.S. efforts to hobble Huawei shows the fragility of Beijing’s highly centralized tech sector.
By Salvatore Babones, an adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney.

Workers producing LED chips at a factory in Huaian, in China's eastern Jiangsu province, on June 16. STR/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
DECEMBER 14, 2020, 7:05 AM
Shenzhen, a city of some 12 million people in southeastern China’s Guangdong province, is the consumer electronics capital of the world. Immediately abutting Hong Kong, it now towers over its restive regional rival in terms of population, skyscrapers, and by some counts even gross domestic product. It is also home to Huawei, the Chinese telecommunications company that dominates global 5G wireless infrastructure and sits at the center of the U.S.-China tech war.
Long a hub for mobile phone assembly, the city of Shenzhen is about to get into the business of making phones itself. In November, a consortium led by the Shenzhen municipal government struck an unusual deal to pay Huawei $15 billion and take over the company’s Honor budget smartphone brand. Huawei is fighting for its very survival since it was added to both the U.S. Commerce Department’s export licensing Entity List and the U.S. Defense Department’s foreign investment blacklist.
The strange spectacle of a city government funneling money into a global tech giant and ending up with a budget phone maker is emblematic of China’s problems in developing its own technologies. China has the ambition, and it can do things at scale. It can also raise the money, even (when necessary) from unlikely sources. But it lacks the broad ecosystem of commercial cooperation, intellectual property protection, and intelligent venture capital that makes deep technology collaboration possible. China’s command economy is a cookie-cutter economy, but high technology is a networking game.
The fact that the U.S. government could so easily hobble the world’s largest smartphone maker and 5G infrastructure supplier in less than one year is indicative of the fragility of China’s highly centralized high tech sector. China’s electronics industry relies on U.S., Taiwanese, South Korean, and Japanese suppliers for many key components, but the most strategic of strategic technologies is the microprocessor. And despite years of strategic investment, China has (so far) been unable to master the production of these highly specialized but utterly ubiquitous computer chips.
China’s electronics industry relies on U.S., Taiwanese, South Korean, and Japanese suppliers for many key components.
Silicon-based semiconductors are used in all sorts of computer chips, including memory chips, sensor chips, and a variety of other microprocessor chips. Most people are familiar with the general-purpose microprocessors known as central processing units (CPUs) that power smartphone and computer operating systems, but device performance increasingly depends on more specialized microprocessors such as graphics processing units (GPUs) and artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators. The most advanced CPUs now coming to market, such as the Apple A14 Bionic, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, and the Samsung Exynos 1080, include integrated GPUs and AI accelerators right on the chip—and have 5G wireless integration to boot.

The only serious Chinese rival to these advanced U.S. chips is the HiSilicon Kirin 9000, designed by Huawei’s own in-house “fabless” chip-design subsidiary. In the arcane lingo of semiconductor manufacturing, a fabless chipmaker is one that lacks its own fabrication facilities, known as “fabs” or “foundries.” Until this year, Huawei’s HiSilicon chips were actually made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, but tightening U.S. sanctions put an end to that. Broader U.S. export controls on chip design software and foundry machine tools mean that Huawei now has little chance of developing an advanced fabrication capability of its own. As a result, the Kirin 9000 is effectively stillborn.
China’s most advanced chip foundry is Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), based in Shanghai. Like Huawei, SMIC is on both the U.S. Commerce and Defense departments’ watchlists, severely restricting its access to U.S. technology and finance. Without foreign help, SMIC is generations away from being able to produce a chip like the Kirin 9000. Like all of today’s flagship CPUs, the Kirin 9000 is designed for 5-nanometer silicon wafers. When it comes to semiconductors, thinner is better, and the best SMIC can currently manage is 14 nanometers. It has announced plans to produce 7-nanometer chips, but lacks the machine tools to make them.
If China has been unable to match its international competitors on microprocessors, it’s not for want of trying—or spending. China established a $22 billion National Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund in 2014 (known as the Big Fund) in a bid to reduce its reliance on imported chips, but to little avail. Today, only 16 percent of China’s semiconductors are made locally, and these tend to be the least sophisticated in every category. Last year, China announced a second Big Fund to invest a further $29 billion in semiconductor development. It remains to be seen whether or not China can make a success of it the second time around, this time in the face of aggressive U.S. sanctions.
China’s chipmakers and designers now seem to be short on cash.
Despite all the promised investment, China’s chipmakers and designers now seem to be short on cash. Huawei going cap in hand to the Shenzhen government is no surprise, given its high exposure to the U.S. and Indian markets. But other Chinese chipmakers with little connection to the United States are also facing financial difficulties. Wuhan’s Hongxin Semiconductor Manufacturing Company had promised to build China’s first 7-nanometer chip fab, but ran out of money in August. It has since been taken over by the municipal district government—effectively a bailout.
READ MORE

Note to Biden: Forget Trade, the Real War With China Is Over Tech
Just like Trump, Biden is stuck in the last century if he believes globalization is about trade and rust-belt manufacturing jobs.
VOICE | SALVATORE BABONES

China Will Use Huawei to Spy Because So Would You
There is a long, and secret, history of countries—including Britain and the United States—forcing companies to protect national security by helping them eavesdrop in bulk.
ARGUMENT | CALDER WALTON

China’s Superpower Dreams Are Running Out of Money
When the coronavirus crisis is over, China will be forced to embrace a less ambitious future.
VOICE | SALVATORE BABONES
Also based in coronavirus-hit Wuhan, memory-chip maker Yangtze Memory Technologies announced plans in September to build a world-class $22 billion flash memory chip foundry. Two months later, its parent company, Tsinghua Unigroup, defaulted on a $198 million bond repayment. In addition to the now-stalled memory chip project, Tsinghua Unigroup owns a chip design firm and cloud computing platform, among other subsidiaries. A spinoff from the prestigious Tsinghua University (Chinese President Xi Jinping’s alma mater), it would once have been thought politically immune from failure.
Yet it is not the first prestigious university-linked spinoff to default on its debt. Peking University Founder Group, a diversified conglomerate, missed a bond payment last December, even before the coronavirus crisis hit. If China is allowing such well-connected firms as semiconductor foundries and university research groups to go bust, financial conditions in the country must be much more dire than its announcements of multibillion-dollar investment funds would suggest. So dire, in fact, that the governor of the People’s Bank of China, Yi Gang, felt compelled to publicly warn local governments last week not to expect bailouts for bad business decisions—such as taking over struggling companies or subsidiaries with uncertain futures.
China made chipmaking its top civilian technology priority of the last decade, but it has little to show for it. Even before many of its leading companies were hit with U.S. export and financial controls, China proved itself unable to establish a competitive presence in the market for relatively simple memory chips—never mind complex microprocessors. As the cutting edge of chip design goes even farther down the path of multiple integration, with CPUs, GPUs, AI accelerators, and wireless modems all printed on a single wafer a few molecules wide, China will find it ever more difficult to catch up.

Salvatore Babones is an adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney. Twitter: @sbabones
TAGS: CHINA, DONALD TRUMP, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, U.S. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS

The fact that you quote this article to state China has failed or will fail shows how little you and the author of this article really know about chip development. The chip saga is all about how many transistors you can fit in the least amount of space. China is not in the upper bounds of this limit as yet, but they are getting closer. Secondly the Moore’s law is beginning to fail which means the upper bound is no longer a sliding scale. This fracture of the Moore’s law gives more impetus to quantum computing and other Nano methods of process engineering, a space where China is ascendant over most of the world. So I know these articles are some idiots wet dreams, but China is operating at a level you can only dream of.
it is a fools errand to think China will not become technologically primary in the world. Only thing that can hold China back are wars, internal strife and social disorder.

 

[CAPRICORN-88]

Who is trolling? I am telling facts and I am giving solid reasoning. It is you who are trolling by simply insisting that what you say is right without giving any argument, reasons, history etc.

I am not talking here on political grounds but purely on a technological ground. I am not interested in favouring USA or China but simply telling the facts about semiconductor industry as a whole. I have done good amount of research to know the facts and history of semiconductors. You don't seem to know anything other than a few fancy names and superficial details. Yet here you are calling others as trolls!

Stop trolling.
That will be my advice to you.
Once again, Taiwan has nothing do with Indian like you or India. That is trolling.

No point posting your one side opinion based on your superficial knowledge and wild imagination.

I won't respond to you as per advice by the moderator.