Is Taiwan losing its ‘silicon shield’? TSMC engineers relocate to US, sparking brain drain fears

TAIPEI - A “little Taiwan” is forming in a sprawling desert in northern Phoenix in the US state of Arizona.

With the construction of

a massive fabrication plant

by the island’s top chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in the area, some 500 Taiwanese engineers and their families have relocated there in recent weeks.