Then, in 2020, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company announced it would build a chip plant in the desert area in north Phoenix, a seemingly odd choice for an industry that demands huge amounts of water. Last December, my colleague Annie Cheng Ting-Fang travelled to Phoenix to cover TSMC’s equipment installation ceremony at the facility, an event that US president Joe Biden also attended. Since there was no direct flight between Taipei and Phoenix, it took her around 20 hours to get there.
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