TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) on Saturday (Oct. 26) warned of the challenges facing the world’s largest contract maker of semiconductors.

Chang, 93, who retired from TSMC in 2018, was attending the company’s annual athletics day in Hsinchu County. In a speech to staff and executives, he described TSMC as a strategic battleground, Radio Taiwan International reported.

He congratulated the company on another record-breaking year, based on leadership in technology, excellence in manufacturing, and trust from customers. While company personnel had once again created a miracle, he also cautioned the toughest times were still ahead.

Chang recalled how he had predicted at the athletics meet five years ago that TSMC’s success would turn it into a strategic battleground for geopolitical strategists. During that period, the company has become a real battleground, he said.

Globalization and global free trade had died, but TSMC still had to continue its development. Chang expressed confidence in the future of the company he founded 37 years ago.

Over the past few years, TSMC has been expanding outside of Taiwan, launching or planning new plants in Japan, Arizona, and Germany, while also adding facilities inside the country and pushing ever more advanced semiconductor technologies.