Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China's Huawei, a Taipei government official told AFP, potentially breaching US sanctions.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co has suspended shipments to a customer after it discovered that one of its chips supplied to the client ended up in a Huawei product, according to a Taiwan official familiar with the situation.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. discovered this month that chips it made for a specific customer ended up with Huawei Technologies Co., a potential violation of US sanctions intended to sever the flow of technology to a Chinese national champion.