Taiwan's Semiconductor Journey and Its Gamble of the Century
Exclusive Interview with 'A Chip Odyssey' Documentary Director Hsiao Chu-chen
In the 1970s, Taiwan faced unprecedented challenges: the termination of U.S. economic aid, an energy crisis, and its forced withdrawal from the United Nations. With no other options, Taiwan decided to develop the semiconductor industry as a lifeline for national economic growth. Today, as a global hub for semiconductor manufacturing, Taiwan is once again compelled to confront external threats and pressures due to geopolitical turbulence, facing yet another critical gamble.
At this seemingly providential moment, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatens to impose tariffs on chips manufactured overseas, the documentary "A Chip Odyssey: A Century's Gamble," which chronicles the genesis and growth of Taiwan's semiconductor industry, is set to premiere in major Taiwanese cinemas on June 13. The film's promotion offers an excellent opportunity for many people to gain a deep understanding of the semiconductor industry's past, present, and future.
The timeliness of this documentary is striking. Director Hsiao Chu-chen, a two-time Golden Horse Award winner for Best Documentary, stated firmly to TechSoda, drawing from interviews with over eighty individuals and fifty years of historical research: "Today our young people don't have the chance to know the past—how we became who we are today, how Taiwan became what it is today. When Trump tells you that you stole American chips, when the Japanese ask you how you surpassed them, when others ask why Taiwan is so strong in semiconductors, how will you answer? All these questions pushed me forward, inspiring me to complete this film by all means."
The film’s Chinese name translates literally as "The Mountain Movers," drawing its name from the semiconductor industry's moniker as the "Guardian Mountains" and TSMC's revered status as the "Guardian Sacred Mountain." However, this is no mythology glorifying effortless success. The director, Hsiao Chu-chen, who describes herself as "rebellious" and unwilling to give in to challenges, diligently tracked down the original project proposal of Dr. Pan Wen-yuan, the initiator for Taiwan to invest in the semiconductor industry. She faithfully visited the now-vanished Xiaoxinxin breakfast store, the humble birthplace of the RCA project concept, and unflinchingly documented Taiwan's devastating failure in developing the DRAM industry. The film's narrative even continuously adjusted to shifting international news, striving to present the most authentic portrayal possible.
Hsiao Chu-chen recalls that over five years ago, she attended the memorial service for Dr. Hu Ting-hua, former chairman of Maxcronix International. There, she saw the tech veterans who, in 1975, had followed Dr. Hu (then director of ITRI's Electronics Research Service Organization) to RCA in the U.S. to learn semiconductor manufacturing. Their emotional retelling of how Dr. Hu led the team to bring the spark of semiconductor technology back to Taiwan deeply moved her. Initially, she simply wanted to document the efforts of this group. "But then, over these past few years, so many geopolitical issues emerged. Several times, like waves, they reshaped the sandcastle of my story that I had so painstakingly sculpted. Almost every day, a new drama unfolded, forcing me to repeatedly start over, doing my homework, collecting materials, and conducting interviews again. I was still making major revisions just a week before the premiere, right up to what you see in cinemas now." Director Hsiao rubbed her tired eyes with a resigned look, yet her excitement and joy remained palpable as she spoke passionately about the definition of "mountain movers," their beliefs, and their significance in history.
Today, many people, observing TSMC and Taiwan's success, tend to judge based solely on the outcome. How did Taiwan, a small island with limited natural resources and a dense population, manage to ascend to its current prominent position? Requests for media interviews with TSMC founder Morris Chang and senior executives are likely backlogged for years. Television analyses of the semiconductor industry mostly focus on leading process technology and overseas investment projects, yet few are concerned with how incredibly difficult the decision was for Taiwan to develop semiconductors back then. Then Minister of Economic Affairs Sun Yun-suan, who advocated for investing in the semiconductor industry, faced unimaginable opposition at the time. Without the unwavering support of advisor Dr. Simon Sze, the steadfast commitment of the RCA team members to fulfill their mission, and the subsequent inheritors carrying on the belief in pursuing excellence, how could this "mission impossible " ever have been accomplished?
Why was it a "mission impossible"? Back then, only RCA was willing to provide design training and technology licensing to Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). And for Taiwan, with its meager foreign exchange reserves at the time, US$10 million was simply an astronomical sum. Although RCA was no longer a leader in the semiconductor industry at that time, as a pioneer, it had accumulated a vast number of patents. However, Hu Ting-hua stated years later, "Because of shortcomings in the technical training provided by RCA, my colleagues at ITRI's Electronics Research Division and I had to go to great lengths to plug the gaps. As successful examples were needed, ITRI then established a demonstration factory; this was the genesis of TSMC and UMC."
On camera, the vibrant young men of yesteryear are now white-haired, slightly hunched, and slow-moving elders. Recalling Sun Yun-suan's directive, "You can only succeed, you must not fail," tears still welled up and rolled down the faces of these tech pioneers.
From a certain perspective, this documentary itself was also an "impossible mission." Its successful completion was not only due to the determination of the director and crew but also a race against time. Professor Simon Sze, who was still energetic and robust during his interview, and Tu Chun-yuan, UMC's first President, both passed away before they could see the documentary finished.
Who Are the "Mountain Movers"?
When thinking of "mountain movers," beyond the decision-makers, planners, and implementers of that policy, many immediately think of TSMC founder Morris Chang, along with key executives and R&D leaders. However, Mr. Chang declined the production team's close-up interviews, citing the writing of the second volume of his autobiography. Even so, the director answered the question of "who are the mountain movers" from an even broader perspective.
Today, facing a talent shortage, wafer fabrication plants are doubling their efforts in campus recruitment events, employee benefits, and compensation to attract outstanding talent and improve employee job satisfaction. Yet, the younger generation continues to complain about overtime and monotonous work. The director interviewed a group of "big sisters" who worked as production line operators during UMC's early days, allowing the audience to see, from the socio-economic backdrop of the 1970s and 1980s, the immense contributions these women made to the flourishing development of Taiwan's semiconductor industry.
Those operators told the director that back then, they had to queue up, or even draw lots, just to get overtime hours. They shared, "You don't know how good it felt to make money, because we all came from poor families. After working for a few years, we'd get shares, sell them, and buy a car. We felt so proud, like we could do whatever we wanted." Many Taiwanese girls in the 1970s and 80s were asked by their families to sacrifice their educational opportunities to work and earn money, so their brothers could attend university. Working as operators on semiconductor production lines gave them a sense of accomplishment, and even though the work was hard on their eyes, they couldn't help but laugh, remembering the nurse's office generously supplying them with cod liver oil.
When questioned about why TSMC has been able to defeat rivals and maintain its lead in advanced processes, especially since engineers in the US and South Korea are also excellent, Dr. Chiang Shang-yi, former co-chief operating officer of TSMC, responded with a proud smile: "Our R&D team operates 24 hours a day, in three shifts. Even if their engineers are twice as smart as ours, I still win."
"By the end of filming, I felt that the 'mountain movers' were more about a belief than just a specific group of people," Hsiao Chu-chen explained. The key, she elaborated, lies in genuinely believing that your efforts are “creating history, safeguarding Taiwan, and laying the foundation for our future home and the next generation.” This conviction is crucial. Just like a job, if you treat it merely as a task to be completed to pass at 70%, you'll never achieve breakthroughs or greatness. Only those with a sense of mission in their hearts will be willing to push themselves to 90% or even 100%. History is never made by those who just go through the motions, but by those with conviction and responsibility in their hearts.
Hsiao stated firmly, "Whether one is living through a great era, working as an engineer, or serving as a decision-maker, what matters most is whether they harbor the conviction. If we hadn't held this belief back then, I don't believe we would have achieved today's results; if we lose this belief now, the future will also be precarious."
The Secret to Taiwan's Semiconductor Success: Can We Create a Second Mountain?
What is the secret to Taiwan becoming a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing? Taiwan is now a highly contested strategic point, and TSMC, with its technological edge, wields immense global influence. Is it possible to replicate a second or third "sacred mountain" in the future?
"It's not easy. The entire island's resources are now dedicated to supporting the semiconductor industry, and we are facing a severe talent shortage and declining birthrate," Hsiao Chu-chen said. "Furthermore, if Taiwan had been in a time of peace and prosperity back then, we might not have taken such a gamble." She emphasized that it was precisely because Taiwan was born into adversity, with no other choices or retreats, that it chose an industry others were unwilling to endure hardships for, and by working twice as hard as others, it achieved today's results.
To summarize the reasons for Taiwan's semiconductor success, besides being born into adversity, a sense of mission, and the relentless pursuit of excellence by its talent, one must also acknowledge that over the past 50 years, Taiwan's gambles paid off, and there was also an element of luck involved.
When the semiconductor industry took off, Taiwan moved right along with it and never let up. The lifecycle of global tech products is very short, and hardware technology is advancing rapidly. From telephones, digital watches, personal computers, gaming consoles, and mobile phones, all the way to the development of the iPhone/smartphone, Taiwan followed this path without missing a beat. "Even now, we've kept up with AI. We must applaud these engineers and companies; it really isn't easy." A young engineer from Hsinchu Science Park, after watching the preview, specifically came to thank Hsiao Chu-chen, saying, "Thank you, director, for your efforts. I feel like I've found the motivation to go back to my shift."
"History isn't just about looking back; it's about reminding us why we fight."
As a humanities scholar teaching at National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Hsiao Chu-chen said understanding the standard processes of wafer manufacturing isn't difficult for her. However, the greater challenges she faced in making this film lay in data collection and authorization. During the 1970s and 1980s, Taiwan was still under martial law or experiencing loosening political control before martial law. The government at the time didn't encourage the media to report the true circumstances, making it difficult for later generations to understand the public's panic, facing multiple challenges, and the immense pressure on decision-makers with limited historical data.
Furthermore, the emergence of generative AI and the DeepSeek inference model has significantly increased industry uncertainty, while today's rapidly changing international landscape is equally unpredictable, complicating the narrative. However, Hsiao Chu-chen believes that before making the next gamble or choice, it's crucial to first understand how we got to this point and what the cost will be. Therefore, she chose to untangle the historical context and pose questions about the future that remains unclear.
She explicitly states: "History isn't just about reviewing the past; it's about reminding us why we fight. Conviction doesn't belong to a specific era or group of people. As long as we're willing to do our part to protect this island, we are all mountain movers—even if we're just a grain of sand or a brick."
At the end of the documentary, Hsiao Chu-chen also hopes to inspire the audience to consider: TSMC's market capitalization exceeds Taiwan's annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “How can we address the issue of the economy being overly reliant on a single industry and company? Advanced wafer manufacturing demands immense land, environmental, and resource commitments. How can this development be sustained?”
Hsiao Chu-chen is currently preparing to submit the film to several major international film festivals, giving global audiences an opportunity to understand how the "Silicon Island" was forged, through this documentary from a Taiwanese perspective.
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