Taiwan accuses China of stealing its chipmaking technologies

Taiwan’s top diplomat in Washington, Alexander Yui, has accused China of trying to compete with Taiwan’s semiconductor industry using dishonest tactics like stealing intellectual property.

In an interview with Reuters, Yui brushed off the idea that China’s chip sector could soon match Taiwan’s, especially in producing chips on advanced nodes. China’s ambassador in the U.S. denies any wrongdoing by Chinese companies. Taiwan’s top representative in the U.S. accused Chinese chipmakers of sidestepping standard innovation practices and using dishonest methods to improve their capabilities.

Despite pouring in a lot of money, Yui still doubts China’s ability to make cutting-edge processors that could stand up to global competition, especially with the U.S. making a strong push to limit Beijing’s tech ambitions through export restrictions and other actions.

“They do not really follow the rules,” Yui told Reuters. “They cheat and they copy, etc. They steal technology.” Yui said

To be honest, China’s top chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., did steal TSMC’s process technologies in the early 2000s and was caught twice. However, today’s technologies, like the 7nm and 5nm process nodes, are so advanced that it’s nearly impossible to steal them.

So, instead of stealing advanced fabrication technologies, SMIC now hires specialists from TSMC and Samsung Foundry to develop them in-house. A representative from the Chinese embassy in the United States dismissed the accusation as lacking common sense and being driven by ill will.

“China’s scientific and technological achievements are never made through ‘cheating’ and ‘stealing’,” embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told Reuters. “Our development is always built on our own strength, and we are confident of continuing to strengthen China’s capability to seek self-reliance and technological innovation.”

The conversation also covered the accusations from Donald Trump, the top Republican candidate for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, who claimed that Taiwan was taking away American jobs in the semiconductor sector. Yui countered these allegations by highlighting the strategic investments Taiwanese companies are making in the U.S., particularly mentioning TSMC’s substantial investments in Arizona fabs. This, he argued, makes Taiwan a partner to the U.S. rather than a competitor.

Lastly, Yui stressed the bipartisan backing Taiwan receives in the U.S., rejecting the notion that the island’s technological progress and security concerns are influenced by political partisanship.