Warren Buffett’s investment company Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB:NYSE) had sold its stake in US personal products giant Procter & Gamble (PG:NYSE) and invested in Taiwanese semiconductor maker TSMC (2330:TPE) instead.

TSMC is the world’s largest made-to-order chip maker and is expected to generate close to $75 billion in sales this year. It is a popular holding for global and Asia-focused investment funds.

Berkshire’s stake, worth just over $4.5 billion at current prices, marks a rare foray by the Buffett-led conglomerate into Asian stocks and into the IT hardware manufacturing sector.

The investment is also significant from a political perspective as it suggests Buffett is confident in Taiwan’s future.

In the run-up to the midterm elections the Biden administration had to be seen as tough on China as the Republicans, hence there was a lot of talk of ‘defending’ Taiwan, but the rhetoric was aimed squarely at the US electorate not the international community.

At the same time, when China talked about ‘integrating’ Taiwan, fears of it launching a military invasion became vastly overblown.

The bottom line is if President Xi wants to win the hearts and minds of Taiwan’s 24 million inhabitants, he knows full well he isn’t going to do it militarily.

‹ Previous2022-11-17Next ›