Chen Liwu stands between the fault zones.

Recently, Trump directly "ordered" on his social media: Chen Liwu must resign as the CEO of Intel due to a conflict of interest!

Chen Liwu immediately publicly issued a communication letter, denying the rumors about his previous experiences. He stated that he would hold himself to the highest standards and that he had the support of the board of directors and would not resign. The following is the full text of the public letter.

Dear Team:

I know there's a lot of news today, and I'd like to take a moment to talk directly to you.

First, I want to say: The United States has been my home for over 40 years. I love this country and am deeply grateful for the opportunities it has given me. I also love this company. Leading Intel at this critical moment is not just a job; it's an honor. This industry has given me so much, and our company plays an important role. It's an honor in my career to work with you to revitalize Intel's strength and create future innovations. Intel's success is crucial to the United States' technological and manufacturing leadership, national security, and economic strength. This is the driving force behind our global business, the motivation for me to join the team, and the impetus for me to push us forward every day to do important work and build a better future.

There's a lot of misinformation circulating about my past tenure at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems. I want to be clear: In my over 40-year industry career, I've built good relationships around the world and in diverse ecosystems, always adhering to the highest legal and ethical standards. My reputation is built on trust - I keep my word and do things the right way. This is also how I lead Intel.

We're communicating with the government to address the issues raised and ensure they have the facts. I fully support the President's commitment to advancing the United States' national and economic security, appreciate his leadership on these priorities, and am proud to lead a company that's crucial to these goals.

The board fully supports our work for the company's transformation, customer innovation, and rigorous execution - and we're making progress. It's especially exciting that later this year, we'll achieve mass production using the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology in the United States. This will be an important milestone, proving your efforts and Intel's important role in the U.S. technology ecosystem.

Chen Liwu's entire career is a perfect epitome of the era of globalization - he is both an investment guru in Silicon Valley and a key promoter of the rise of the Asian semiconductor industry, with deep connections and a large investment network in mainland China. In the past, these were his badges of honor; but today, they've become his most fatal "original sin."

To understand how Chen Liwu has come to this point, we must lift the political fog stirred up by this letter and look back at his long journey to explore how his life trajectory has been closely intertwined with the global wave of globalization in the past four decades and how, in this era of reversing globalization, he has been pushed to the fault line.

Chen Liwu's First Half of Life

Chen Liwu's life didn't start in Silicon Valley but in Southeast Asia. He was born into a Malaysian-Chinese family and studied at Nanyang University in Singapore in his early years. Like many Asian students in that era who were eager to change their fates, the United States was his place of longing.

He traveled across the ocean to study at the University of San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley, and finally obtained a doctorate in nuclear engineering. His educational experience was a typical start of the "American Dream": a smart and hardworking foreigner, through his own efforts, established a foothold in the top academic institutions in the United States.

After graduation, he naturally entered the U.S. technology industry and held technical and management positions in companies such as Echo Science and EDS Nuclear. Although this experience wasn't particularly prominent, it gave him first-hand knowledge of the operation mode of the U.S. technology industry.

However, Chen Liwu's ambition clearly went beyond becoming a stable corporate executive. He keenly sensed the breath of the changing era - the personal computer revolution was giving birth to a new, explosively growing industry: semiconductors.

In 1987, Chen Liwu made a life-changing decision: to found Walden International Venture Capital Fund. In that era, venture capital was still a relatively niche field, and investments focused on the semiconductor industry were even rarer.

Most people's attention was focused on those glamorous end-product companies, but Chen Liwu saw the larger part beneath the iceberg - the chip design, manufacturing, packaging and testing, equipment, and materials that supported the entire information technology revolution. He constructed a unique investment philosophy, which was to make an "ecosystem" - style layout around the entire semiconductor industry chain.

This time point was crucial. The global semiconductor industry at that time was at the center of a severe geopolitical storm - the U.S.-Japan semiconductor trade war. Japan's DRAM memory chips swept the global market with their strong manufacturing capabilities and cost advantages, pushing U.S. giants like Intel into a corner. Politicians in Washington waved the big stick of trade protectionism, forcing Japan to sign the U.S.-Japan Semiconductor Agreement to restrict its exports.

Against this backdrop, founding a venture capital fund focused on semiconductors was a contrarian move. At that time, most mainstream venture capital firms in Silicon Valley focused their attention on personal computer and software companies, believing that hardware was a labor - intensive and low - profit business. But Chen Liwu saw the other side of the coin.

He judged that the intense confrontation between the United States and Japan had created a once - in - a - lifetime opportunity for other countries and regions. The global semiconductor industry chain couldn't be dominated by just the United States and Japan; it would inevitably shift to regions with lower costs and more flexible responses.

More importantly, he saw a fundamental change in the semiconductor industry model. The traditional IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturer) model, where a single company handled all aspects of design, manufacturing, packaging, and testing, was becoming increasingly bloated and inefficient.

A new vertical division of labor model of "Fabless" (fabless design companies) + "Foundry" (wafer foundries) was quietly emerging. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) emerged in this context.

Walden International, founded by Chen Liwu, was born to embrace this new, globalized industrial division of labor system. He didn't bet on either the United States or Japan but set his sights on the rising "Four Asian Tigers."

He constructed a unique investment philosophy, which was to make an "ecosystem" - style layout around the entire semiconductor industry chain. He invested in chip design companies, wafer foundries that provided manufacturing services for these companies, and even more upstream equipment and material companies. He tried to weave a global industrial network.

In that era of high - rising nationalism and strict trade barriers, Chen Liwu's global vision and cross - cultural background made him a rare "super - connector" who could connect different technology sectors and capital markets. He bet not on a single company but on the irreversible trend of "global division of labor."

The semiconductor is a global industry. The innovative technologies in the United States need to be combined with Asia's manufacturing capabilities and market potential to unleash the greatest energy. He was one of the first pioneers to bring Silicon Valley capital and concepts to Asia.

From Singapore's innovative technology, to TSMC and MediaTek, to SMIC in mainland China, Walden International's investment map almost covered every key node in the rise of the Asian semiconductor industry.

In that golden era of rapid globalization, Chen Liwu was the perfect "bridge." He was familiar with the U.S. technological frontiers and capital markets and well - versed in Asian cultures and business environments. He could speak fluent English and Chinese, chat freely in the boardrooms of Silicon Valley, and have in - depth exchanges with engineers in Asian factory workshops. This unique cross - cultural background and cross - regional resources allowed him to always discover opportunities that others couldn't see.

The companies he invested in often not only received capital but also valuable tickets to enter the global industrial chain. It was precisely with this unique vision and ability that Chen Liwu and his Walden International became well - known, and he himself was hailed as one of the most powerful investors in the semiconductor field.

Chen Liwu in China

His layout in mainland China was the most important and, in today's view, the most controversial move in his investment career. As early as the 1990s, he began to look for investment opportunities in mainland China. When China decided to vigorously develop the semiconductor industry as a national strategy, Chen Liwu and Walden International became one of the earliest and most active participants.

However, when investment behavior is closely tied to national strategy, the line between business and politics begins to blur.

In the year 2000, the world was at the peak of the Internet bubble, the NASDAQ index was soaring, and the belief that "the world is flat" was deeply rooted. For China, this was the eve of its full integration into the global economic system - the negotiations to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) were in their final stage. A huge economy with a population of over a billion was about to open its doors to global capital and industries.

It was at this historical juncture that Chen Liwu and his Walden International made the most important and iconic investment in their investment history - participating in the establishment of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC).

This decision seemed full of great uncertainties at that time. First, there were challenges in technology and talent. The semiconductor industry in mainland China was extremely weak at that time, with a huge gap compared to the advanced regions in the Asian semiconductor industry. It was imaginable how difficult it was to build a world - class wafer foundry on a blank slate.

Second, there was political risk. Although China was about to join the WTO, cross - strait relations were still complex and sensitive. Introducing advanced wafer - foundry management experience and a large number of talents to the mainland would inevitably touch complex political nerves.

But Chen Liwu saw a greater opportunity behind the risks. He judged that the Chinese government's determination to develop the domestic semiconductor industry was unwavering. With its huge market, engineer dividend, and national will, China was bound to occupy a place in the global semiconductor map. Early layout would not only allow him to share the dividends of China's economic growth but also enable him to replicate Walden's "ecosystem" investment model in China completely.

Investing in SMIC perfectly reflected Chen Liwu's role as a "bridge." He not only brought Silicon Valley capital but, more importantly, used his deep connections in the industry to persuade a large number of semiconductor elites led by Zhang Rujing to cross the Taiwan Strait to Pudong, Shanghai, and start the arduous entrepreneurial journey. This investment was a perfect combination of capital, technology, talent, and market across regions and political entities.

It conformed to both the commercial logic of global capital seeking value depressions and China's national strategy of developing high - tech industries. In that era full of infinite optimism about globalization, the establishment of SMIC was regarded as a model of win - win for all parties. Chen Liwu also became a deep - seated participant and key promoter of China's semiconductor industry's rise, laying a solid foundation for his future comprehensive layout in mainland China.

After that, from the chip design company GigaDevice Semiconductor, to the equipment company AMEC, to countless startups scattered throughout the industry chain, Walden International made heavy investments in China.

At that time, this was undoubtedly an extremely shrewd business decision. China has a huge market, rich engineer dividends, and strong government support, and is an indispensable part of the global semiconductor industry. Investing in China is investing in the future.

Chen Liwu's layout brought rich returns to him and his fund and also made him a deep - seated participant and promoter of China's semiconductor industry development. He was once a guest of honor of governments across China and was regarded as a mentor and friend by countless entrepreneurs.

Chen Liwu at Cadence

If, as an investor, Chen Liwu went with the tide in the wave of globalization, then, as an entrepreneur, he showed his ability to turn the tide in adversity. In 2009, the global financial tsunami triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis swept across the world. Wall Street was in a mess, and the real economy was severely hit. The technology industry was not spared either. Companies laid off employees and cut R & D spending, struggling to survive.

It was at this "freezing point" of the industry and the market that Chen Liwu made another amazing decision: from being an investor who gave advice, he personally stepped in as a "firefighter" and became the CEO of EDA giant Cadence Design Systems. At that time, Cadence was mired in the quagmire of the financial crisis and internal turmoil, with a low stock price and a demoralized workforce.

After taking office, Chen Liwu carried out a series of drastic reforms. He cut non - core businesses, refocused on the company's most proficient EDA and IP (intellectual property) fields, and restored the relationship with customers with great perseverance. In 2009, although the traditional PC market was sluggish, a new era had begun - the mobile Internet revolution initiated by the iPhone.

Chen Liwu keenly realized that the requirements of smartphones for chips were completely different from those in the PC era. It needed to integrate