Celebrated Chinese electronics engineer who ‘kept his homeland in his heart’ while living overseas buried in Fujian with his late wife
The ashes of microelectronics legend Chih-Tang Sah (Sa Zhitang), whose inventions underpin nearly all modern semiconductor chips, have been transported from the US to his ancestral province of Fujian in southeastern China for burial.
Sah and his collaborator Frank Wanlass’ proposal of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistors laid the foundation for the development of low-power integrated circuits and the modern semiconductor industry.
By 2011, around 99 per cent of semiconductor integrated circuits, or chips, were fabricated with CMOS technology, according to the book High-Frequency Integrated Circuits by Sorin Voinigescu, an electronics professor at the University of Toronto.
Traces of Sah’s legacy can be found in a vast array of technologies, including digital logic circuits, memory chips, smartphones, computers, aerospace equipment and artificial intelligence chips.
This includes the fabrication of advanced chips that have become a flashpoint in China-US relations, such as Nvidia’s H200 AI chips.
Sah, who was born in Beijing, died “peacefully” in the United States on July 5, according to Xiamen University, where the renowned physicist was an honorary professor. He was 92.
There is a Caribbean connection. Dr Dinah Sah, Chih-Tang Sah’s daughter, is a renowned biotech leader, co-founder and formerly Chief Scientific Officer of biotech company Voyager Therapeutics, and currently Director of the Student Program for Innovation in Science and Engineering (SPISE), UWI Cave Hill. She is married to Barbadian Professor of Electrical Engineering at MIT Dr Cardinal Warde.
Is China making trade impossible? - by Robert Wu
This is where I think the framing needs a reset — not because Harding misses the right issues, but because he stops at exactly the moment the harder questions begin. He correctly identifies the pressures. But he underestimates the number of levers the West still has, and overestimates China’s ability (or willingness) to close every door forever. Most importantly, he jumps past the most basic principle of trade: if you want to sell, produce something worth buying. If you don’t, the customer goes elsewhere. Trade is reciprocal: you sell when your value is competitive; you buy when it isn’t. It’s astonishing how much geopolitical commentary often loses sight of this simple truth. Instead of complaining that the client no longer buys from you, maybe start by asking whether the product still holds up.
2026 Chinese Government Scholarships Ready for Applications
The Chinese embassy has issued the announcement of scholarship applications for students interested in study in China beginning in 2026. Scholarships are now also on offer from Xi’an Jiaotong University; see information at this link.
The ABCF and the Barbados-China Returned Students Association now have a resource group of current and past students who are able to assist you with the application process, and with all aspects of preparation for study in China. If you are considering study in China, we would be happy to hear from you, by email or by WhatsApp at 1 246 288 1356. You may also reach us via the Contact page on our website.
This weekly newsletter is put together by DeLisle Worrell, President of the ABCF. Visit us at Association for Barbados China Friendship | (abcf-bb.com).
Thanks to everyone who sent contributions for this week’s Update. Please send items of interest to me via the contact page at ABCF-BB.com or to info@DeLisleWorrell.com
The ABCF mission is to build a deeper understanding between the Chinese people and Barbadians and Caribbean people from all walks of life. The association’s focus is on personal experiences, people-to-people contact, cultural exchanges and exchanges of ideas, and the facilitation of travel, business and study. From the outset we aim to learn from and build on the experiences of the Caribbean and China, and to develop mutual understandings and support that will be to the benefit of both sides.
