TOKYO - Germany, a pillar of Europe's semiconductor industry, is seeking closer ties with Japan as wariness of China, a longtime economic partner, grows amid escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, business leaders said.
To safeguard competitiveness in advanced technology, Germany is calling for restructuring supply chains and fostering connections among democracies to reduce dependence on China.
Frank Rohmund, an executive board member of German optical equipment manufacturer Carl Zeiss AG in charge of semiconductor manufacturing technology, told Kyodo News and other foreign media in July that Japan, South Korea and the United States are important for their supply chain.
Meanwhile, Rohmund said the company is reducing its dependence on China, which he described as "an area where we believe the risk could be substantial."
Zeiss supplies critical components to ASML Holding N.V. of the Netherlands, the only company in the world that manufactures extreme ultraviolet lithography systems that are essential for the production of cutting-edge semiconductors.
EUV systems are often referred to as the world's most complex machines, and Japanese chip venture Rapidus Corp. has also introduced them.
In Dresden, eastern Germany, construction of leading chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s first European factory is underway. The state of Saxony, where the city is located, has traditionally been a hub for the semiconductor and automobile industries.
TSMC decided to invest in this region as part of its strategy to diversify its operating bases globally, including in southwestern Japan's Kumamoto Prefecture and the United States, considering geopolitical risks. It plans to begin operations at the plant by the end of 2027 to produce semiconductors for automobiles and other applications.
While many Japanese companies, such as Tokyo Electron Ltd., already have a presence in this region, others are beginning to set up operations here as well. Anticipating an increase in logistics activity, Nippon Express Holdings Inc., for example, has opened a facility nearby.
Thomas Horn, CEO of Saxony Trade & Invest Corp., which supports business expansion in the state, explained that in the fields of defense and artificial intelligence, what matters is "which servers (are) handling which data" and that discussions on "trusted chips" are underway within the European Union.
Horn hinted at a desire to exclude Chinese-made semiconductors and other materials from critical infrastructure and to partner with trusted Japanese companies.
He also noted that competition with the United States and China is intense and said Germany and Japan "have to join forces" as democratic states.
