According to a newspaper report, Taiwanese security authorities reject Foxconn’s participation in the Chinese chip manufacturer Tsinghua Unigroup. The Apple supplier’s $ 800 million investment in China will “definitely not come to fruition,” the Financial Times quoted a senior Taiwanese government official as saying on Wednesday.
In July, the Taiwanese group Foxconn announced that it had acquired a stake of around 20 percent in the Chinese semiconductor conglomerate through a number of subsidiaries. Taiwan’s cabinet committee has yet to formally examine the investment, an insider told the “FT”. Because of the increasing tensions in the region, such participation has become more difficult. The National Security Council of Taiwan wants to block the deal.
Foxconn said it was in talks with government officials. Tsinghua Unigroup did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Taiwan, the world’s largest contract manufacturer of electronics, is concerned about China’s recent ambitions in the semiconductor sector. The Taiwanese government prohibits companies from building production facilities in China so as not to transfer their most advanced technology abroad. At the same time, Taiwan is under increasing pressure from China, which considers the democratically ruled island to be its own territory. Tensions in the region recently escalated because Nancy Pelosi, the chairman of the US House of Representatives, traveled to Taiwan despite threats from China.
