^{Democracy & Technology Blog} Silicon Wars

Richard Chang, founder and CEO of SMIC, the top new silicon “fab” on the Chinese mainland, plans to give up his Taiwanese citizenship after Taiwan fined him for an “illegal investment” in SMIC in 2000. At a time when most Taiwanese and Chinese recognize and welcome closer ties and more economic integration, there are still many politicians on both sides who stubbornly insist on looking backward. It seems unwise for Taiwan to drive away key people like Richard Chang, who, even though he now operates on the mainland, still can be a friend and benefactor of Taiwan through all sorts of cooperative economic and technological arrangements. I think this is just a blip on a large radar screen showing mostly better, not worse, China-Taiwan relations, but with the semiconductor industry such a national point of pride for Taiwan and increasingly important to the Chinese, too, it could be a flashpoint of sorts. We will watch closely.

-Bret Swanson