The world's most important chipmaker has managed to walk a fine line between China and the U.S., but that will become increasingly difficult as time goes by. (Nikkei Montage/Reuters)

Chip titan TSMC caught in crossfire between US and China

Geopolitical risks mount for Taiwan group after Trump's crackdown on customer Huawei

CHENG TING-FANG and LAULY LI, Nikkei staff writers

May 15, 2020 04:08 JST

Updated on May 15, 2020 11:26 JST

TAINAN, Taiwan -- Not even the coronavirus pandemic is stopping the vast expansion plans of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

In the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan, in tropical sunshine, trucks, excavators and concrete mixers form an endless procession on a 42-hectare construction site, known to the chipmaker as Plant 18. "This will turn into the world's most cutting-edge chip factories. ... It is the largest project our company has ever participated in," an engineer from Fu Tsu Construction, TSMC's construction partner since 1990, told the Nikkei Asian Review.