Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) co-Chief Operating Officer Chiang Shang-yi has described the struggles of China's chip industry as predating U.S. sanctions, stating in an interview that "people" were the country's "biggest hurdle."

Speaking on Era TV's "Taiwan Insights" program Sunday, Chiang, who worked in China for several years after leaving TSMC in 2013, said while Chinese firms may be capable of solving the technical aspects of research and development," he found during his time there that "the biggest hurdle was always people."

Regarding his dealings with "political leaders" when serving as vice chairman of the Shanghai-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), Chiang said he felt that he was "not trusted."

"SMIC is headquartered in Shanghai but has factories in Beijing. I was asked by then-SMIC Chairman Zhou Zixue to fly to Beijing when a high-ranking official wished to visit the factories -- but twice I was shut out of the meetings because they only allowed People's Republic of China citizens to attend," Chiang said.

According to Chiang, Zhou had tried to iron out the issue by setting up personal meetings with the Beijing leader for the then SMIC vice chairman, but "it was not a pleasant feeling."

With regards to U.S. sanctions against Beijing, Chiang said they would certainly slow down the development of China's chip industry, however, it remained to be seen if the pressure could end up forcing chipmakers to stand on their own feet.

"We do not know whether self-reliance could be achieved [in China's semiconductor industry], but one also has to note that China has been developing the industry for more than 10 years and the U.S. sanctions are actually very recent," Chiang said.

He added that China's chip industry was "not that successful either when it was not restricted."

Chiang was first recruited by SMIC, China's top foundry, as an independent director in 2016, before leaving to take up the CEO's position at Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor Corp. (HSMC) in 2019.

He left HSMC in July 2020 and returned to SMIC in mid-December 2020 to take over its vice chairmanship but left China altogether a year later.

After leaving SMIC in 2021, he told local media in Taiwan that he would not work in China again.

By: DocMemory
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