TSMC founder says US-China tensions will slow global chip industry

Morris Chang, the founder of the largest chipmaker in the world, stated on Thursday that the growing tensions between China and the United States over technology will slow the global chip market.

Chang, the founder of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, spoke at an Asia Society event in New York. The company helped Taiwan, a democratically-governed island, become the world's largest producer of advanced semiconductor chips.

US officials enacted a set of new export restrictions earlier this month that restricted what chips and tools for chipmaking could be exported to China, after Huawei showed off a phone last months with a newly manufactured chip.

Chang, aged 92, stated that separating China's chip manufacturing industry from the rest world would have a negative impact on other players.

I think decoupling is going to slow everyone down. Chang stated that the immediate goal is to slow down China, and it seems like this is happening.

Chang stated that the effects of this decoupling are already evident and that previous economic conflicts between established powers and emerging power had resulted in wars.

Chang described the geopolitical tensions between China and the United States as a confrontation of two existing powers.

Chang said, "Our only hope is that it does not lead to something even more serious."

He praised the United States' higher education system and expressed his optimism for the future of the country, as TSMC builds chipmaking facilities in Arizona.

Chang was born and raised in China. He built his career in the United States where he became a citizen in 1962. Chang then moved to Taiwan to help build the chip manufacturing industry. He's now considered a legend in an industry caught up in geopolitical conflict.

Chang said, 'I think that this country [the] United States is still the hope for the world despite all of our problems.