TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has quietly told the United States to tone down talk about the possibility of Chinese military action, Bloomberg News reported Friday (April 21).
Government officials reportedly used “quiet conversations and back-channel warnings” to ask the Biden administration to be more circumspect in commenting about the risk to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry. The U.S. has emphasized the possibility of military conflict and the danger of relying on semiconductors from Taiwan, with some senior defense officials and administration members mentioning possible dates for a Chinese military assault or blockade.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) government was especially upset by comments by Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the alleged lack of safety relying on computer chips from Taiwan, according to Bloomberg. During his recent visit, U.S. Representative Michael McCaul also caused unease by expressing pessimism about the semiconductor industry falling into Chinese hands, the report said.
Repeated public cautions about the tension in the Taiwan Strait were also thought to have played a role in the decision by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway to slash its holdings in the world’s top contract semiconductor maker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), by 86.2% in February.