Conflicts between the U.S. and China over semiconductor hegemony peaked with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, the third-largest U.S. nation. China strongly protested Pelosi's visit, hinting at the possibility of using force, and the U.S. countered that it would take all protective measures against Pelosi. The conflict is unfolding in the form of a "chicken game" in which neither side can yield.
If the two countries' war of nerves leads to a "competent exercise" such as the U.S. ban on exports of major semiconductor equipment to China or China's armed protests against Taiwan, it will also have a significant impact on South Korean semiconductor industries such as Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which have production plants in China.
According to Reuters, Pelosi arrived in Taiwan late in the afternoon after finishing her visit to Malaysia on the 2nd. It is the first time in 25 years that a U.S. House speaker has visited Taiwan since Newt Gingrich in 1997.
China blasted Speaker Pelosi's visit to the U.S., the third-largest U.S. power, for significantly undermining the "one China" principle, which is an agreement between the U.S. and China. Following the Chinese government's partial control of air traffic around Fujian Province, which is close to Taiwan, several Chinese military aircraft have entered Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) earlier in the day.
"Beijing's actions could have unintended consequences of escalating tensions," White House National Security Council (NSC) strategic coordinator John Kirby said on the 1st local time. "We will keep a very close eye on the Chinese forces."U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping had a strong war of words on the Taiwan issue during a two-hour and 17-minute phone call on the 28th of last month. When President Biden said, "I strongly oppose anyone who wants to weaken peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Xi countered, "If you play with fire, you will be burned to death."
One of the factors that led to the peak of the conflict between the two countries is the so-called "chip 4 alliance" that the U.S. is pursuing. According to Reuters reports, anonymous U.S. sources are considering restricting exports of U.S. manufacturing equipment to companies that produce memory chips in China, including Chinese NAND flash memory chip maker YMTC. Although no specific plan has been made yet, it may be applied to Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, which operate semiconductor production lines in China in case of emergency.
"If you look at the current industrial and technological trends in the global market, continuous development is impossible without semiconductors," said Kim Yang-peng, a researcher specializing in the Korea Institute of Technology, in a recent report. "It will be difficult to maintain ambiguous neutrality after the semiconductor supply chain is reorganized."
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