LONDON: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government would review the largest purchase of semiconductor producers in the UK by Chinese-owned manufacturers, the day after his government said it would not intervene.
This happened after China’s Nexperia-owned company on Monday said that it had acquired the largest silicon chip manufacturer in the UK, Newport Wafer Fab.
The agreement was said to be worth around $ 116 million but this has not been confirmed, Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) reported.
According to SMH, the agreement was not reviewed under the New British national security law, which was intended to stop the high-risk foreign takeover of critical infrastructure companies.
The semiconductor industry has gained geo-political interests because China has targeted the main technology for the future economy.
Beijing has ambition to corner the global supply chain of semiconductors because silicone-based products are imperative components of all electronic devices.
The sale is a “very difficult business”, said Johnson and warned of anti-Chinese sentiment by default.
“I don’t want anti-Chinese spirit to lead to us trying to extinguish any investment from China to this country,” he said.
“It will be an economically ignorance.” Tom Tugendhat, Chairman of the British Foreign Affairs Committee said that the government must assess whether the products made by the company (Newport Wafer Fab), are real intellectual property values ​​and interests for China and whether there are real security implications.
“I think semiconductors are very important for this country, one of the things I want to pay attention to immediately whether we can be more independent.
We are thinking about what to do.”