We know that while there is nothing wrong with the fact that tech companies are helping each other out when it comes to setting something up but the fact that a new report reveals that companies from Taiwan are involved in helping Huawei out in order to set up its chip plant in China is a little baffling. This is because we have all known that Taiwanese companies have rejected the idea of providing any chip-related intelligence to China and Huawei being a Chinese company does raise some doubts.
As per the report, “Several Taiwanese technology companies are helping Huawei Technologies Co. build infrastructure for an under-the-radar network of chip plants across southern China, an unusual collaboration that risks inflaming sentiment on a democratic island grappling with Beijing’s growing belligerence.” In the report, it is mentioned that “On a scorching summer afternoon in Shenzhen in late August, one vast, nearly-finished construction site established by a Huawei-backed firm buzzed with workers. The dozens of hard-hatted staffers who gravitated toward nearby street vendors couldn’t be told apart except for brightly hued safety vests that bore their employers’ names and official logos. They included a unit of Taiwanese chip material reseller Topco Scientific Co. and a subsidiary of Taipei-based L&K Engineering Co”. Clearly, this is evidence that Taiwan’s companies are helping Huawei build their chip plant which could become their direct competition in the near future.
One analyst said, “The chips from these plants built with Taiwanese companies’ help could eventually be used on Chinese missiles aimed at Taiwan”. “The government of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is not being serious about Taiwan’s defense if it does not tighten controls on local firms’ support for Huawei.” While he is not wrong and Taiwan’s current government has said everything it needs to in order to assert its position against China, it is definitely a big miss when it is revealed that there is a loophole which allows Taiwanese companies to help Huawei build its factories in China. Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs did respond to this report and added that “her agency will look into the four Taiwanese firms’ relations with Huawei”.
