Taiwan has named and controlled the export of Huawei and SMIC wafer technology, as the cross-strait chip war continues to escalate.

On June 17, the Taiwan International Trade Commission (ITAC) released the “Administrative List of Entities Exporting Strategic High-Tech Goods” (SHTC Entity List), including Chinese technology company Huawei (Huawei) (SMIC) with SMIC, China’s largest wafer foundry, and several of its subsidiaries are on the control list. The ITAC said the restriction was based on “preventing the proliferation of weapons and addressing national security concerns” and stressed that 6/10 had been implemented.

Taiwan names and controls Huawei and SMIC, AI factory plans hindered

According to current regulations in Taiwan, any controlled physical export goods must apply in advance and obtain government permission. This means that Huawei and SMIC, if they want to obtain advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology, equipment, and materials from Taiwan, will be subject to restrictions.

This move may severely undermine Huawei and SMIC’s ability to build AI wafer fabs, especially in advanced packaging, critical machinery, and material supply, further widening the technological gap with TSMC (.

In 2023, Bloomberg pointed out that several Taiwanese manufacturers were secretly assisting Huawei in building a series of chip factories in southern China, suspected of helping Chinese chip makers circumvent U.S. sanctions and restart the manufacturing chain. Now, the Taiwanese government has begun to impose strict controls and cut off these “infiltrators” one by one.

Advanced equipment and IP imports have been banned, self-made 7-nanometer chips shock the world.

Not only Chinese companies, but Taiwan’s recent measures also target Huawei’s subsidiaries located in Japan, Germany, and Russia. In fact, Huawei and SMIC have long been included in the U.S. export control list, effectively cutting off their access to advanced technology supplies from abroad.

However, after Huawei and SMIC launched a locally manufactured 7-nanometer chip in 2023, it shocked the world. Even though they faced multiple blockades in equipment and IP licensing, the two companies still produced AI chips in China, forcing the external world to reevaluate China’s manufacturing capabilities.

From technical control to political expression, AI chips have become a tool of national sovereignty.

This time, Taiwan actively included Huawei and SMIC in the list, which is interpreted as a countermeasure against China’s ongoing infiltration and military threats. Especially since President Lai Ching-te publicly stated at the beginning of this year, referring to China as “foreign hostile forces,” and initiated a series of anti-infiltration measures, the relationship between the two sides has become quite tense.

In fact, in the past, Taiwan’s exports to China have been subject to many restrictions, such as exposure machines and other advanced manufacturing equipment has been strictly controlled, but this time it is quite rare to name well-known Chinese science and technology companies for control.

This move also highlights once again that chips are not just an industrial issue, but a battleground of geopolitical significance. In the era of AI, whoever can master chips will hold the future’s national power and discourse.

This article points out that Taiwan has named and controlled the export of Huawei and SMIC wafer technology, and the cross-strait chip war continues to escalate. It first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.