Britain’s biggest microchip factory sold to Chinese-owned tech firm

A Chinese-owned technology company has seized control of Britain’s biggest microchip plant after forcing its owners to sell the facility when they failed to deliver on a contract.

Nexperia acquired 100pc of Newport Wafer Fab’s factory in South Wales on Monday by triggering a contractual clause which allowed it to take command of the site.

Executives at the facility had urged ministers to prevent the sale, and sought funding for an alternative rescue bid, but the Government refused to intervene despite fears for national security.

Ministers are now facing a backlash from MPs who have accused them of turning a blind eye to Communist China’s efforts to dominate the market in chips, the crucial building blocks of modern electronics.

For all these smart devices, whether in the home, in a power station or in the military, America relies on foreign nations to make the key components. “Never before has a nation been in geostrategic competition with another nation that manufactures substantial parts of both its business and military technology,” wrote Singer. “This is the predicament for the United States, which finds itself beholden to China, all the way down to the microchip level. It creates not just a type of dependence never before seen, but also one that can be exploited through the potential of ‘hardware hacks,’ where vulnerabilities might be baked into systems in a manner that might not be made evident for years if not decades. The chips that you buy today, could cost you a war tomorrow.”  

“America is the greatest superpower this world has ever known,” wrote editor in chief Gerald Flurry in “America’s Achilles’ Heel” in the January 1995 Trumpet issue. “But we have a very vulnerable point in our military — our own Achilles’ heel. It is so dangerous that I am amazed it hasn’t received more publicity.”  

He quoted defense analyst Joseph de Courcy, who wrote, “Computer dependence is the Western world’s Achilles’ heel, and within a few years this weakness could be tested to the full.”  

If anything, that weakness is even worse today. And still it receives little publicity.  

Mr. Flurry wrote that de Courcy’s warning immediately reminded him of Ezekiel 7:14: “They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.”  

“It seems everybody is expecting our people to go into battle, but the greatest tragedy imaginable occurs!” Mr. Flurry wrote. “Nobody goes to battle — even though the trumpet is blown! Will it be because of a computer terrorist?”  

“Cyberwarfare Is Worse Than Ever,” February 6, 2019