On November 23, representatives of the staff association of Newport Wafer Fabrications in Wales met with British MPs to express their views.
Workers at Britain’s largest chip factory have urged government authorities to allow the plant to remain in Chinese hands.
Due to national security concerns, the British government ordered Nexperia, which is controlled by a Chinese company and headquartered in the Netherlands, to sell its Newport Wafer Fabrication in Wales (Newport Wafer Fabrications, also translated as Newport Fab)86 % of shares.
About ten members of the Newport Fab Workers’ Association, who traveled to the Houses of Parliament in London on Nov. 23 to present their case to lawmakers, said they were “in disbelief” at the government’s decision.
The British government said it wanted to ensure that the jobs of factory workers would be protected after the stake sale.
Newport Fab
The Newport fab was acquired by the Dutch semiconductor company Nexperia in July 2021, and Nexperia is controlled by Wingtech, a listed company in Shanghai, China.
The semiconductors, or chips, produced at the factory are used in millions of electronic products, from smartphones to household devices and cars. The plant also specializes in making semiconductors that move power in devices.
A UK government review found that the acquisition of the Newport fab posed two risks to UK national security: it could disrupt the UK’s ability to produce compound semiconductors and it could give China access to technical expertise and knowledge.
Newport Fab said it was “shocked” by the government’s decision and would appeal.
Denise Knight, a member of the Newport Fab Workers Association and chief engineer, told the BBC on November 23: “This decision was taken by no one.”
“People are frustrated, they’re angry, they do feel insulted: why would anyone think that anyone is going to put our country’s security at risk?”
Knight wants Business Secretary Grant Shapps to visit factories and talk to staff.
employee appeal
The representatives also brought a letter from the employees’ association to Shapps.
“We cannot believe your decision to order Nexperia to sell the semiconductor plant in Newport,” the letter said.
Newport Fab said it was “shocked” by the government’s decision and would appeal.
“You should see the crux of the matter and allow Anexperia to keep the factory in Newport and protect our jobs,” the letter read.
Another workers’ representative to Parliament was Gaynor Clark. “We want to keep our jobs, we need the jobs, we need to provide for our families,” she said.
She worries about what happens if the factory is bought by another company. Clark hopes that Anexperia will stay in Newport.
“They’re a great company, they’ve given us a raise, they’re putting money into building new equipment for us,” she said.
“Without them (Anexperia) there is no future, and every time we are acquired by a small company, the company goes out of business.”
MP support
Factory workers called on the British government to allow Nexperia to retain ownership of the Newport fab, which also received support from local MPs.
Labor MP Ruth Jones has asked the government to deal with the issue urgently. “Christmas is only a month away, yet the government has put such an unacceptable shock and worry on nearly 600 staff,” she said.
The Newport Wafer Fabrication (Newport Wafer Fabrications, also translated as Newport Fab) in Wales was acquired by Nexperia, headquartered in the Netherlands, and the Chinese company has control.
MP Jones also asked Business Secretary Shapps to release the government’s security assessment in making the decision.
For the more than 500 employees at the Newport fab, it was a “worrying time,” Shapps acknowledged.
But he said: “But she (Member Jones) does not know the information that I have to weigh in order to make this national security decision. I am afraid I cannot agree to her request to release this information.”
government decision
The controversy surrounding the acquisition of the Newport fab by the Chinese-controlled Dutch semiconductor company Nexperia has been going on for some time.
In mid-November, the British government ordered Nexperia to sell its stake in the plant after an assessment report on the plant’s national security concerns came to a conclusion.
In its decision, the British government said the acquisition of the Newport fab posed two risks to national security.
The first risk relates to the development of Nexperia’s Newport factory, which the government says could “undermine the UK’s ability to produce compound semiconductors”.
Second, the factory, as a member of the UK’s semiconductor production-intensive region, can “provide access to technical expertise and knowledge”. “The Newport plant’s close relationship (with China) may hinder future participation in projects related to national security in this dense area.”
The British government made this decision at a time when there was a shortage of international chips in the market, the supply chain was damaged due to the new crown epidemic, and the United States imposed technology sanctions on China.