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Oct. 5, 2022, 10 a.m.
The Chips That Make Taiwan the Center of the World
The Chips That Make Taiwan the Center of the World
['Taiwan', 'China', 'chip', 'TSMC', 'Strait']

The more indispensable TSMC has become to the global economy, the more risk has risen over the future of Taiwan

The Chips That Make Taiwan the Center of the World

"Are your customers concerned," one financial analyst asked Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company chairman Mark Liu last summer, when China from time to time threatens "a war against Taiwan?" CEOs are used to tough questions about capital expenditures and profit margins. The world economy and the supply chains that crisscross Asia and the Taiwan Strait are predicated on this precarious peace. The world's chip industry, as well as the assembly of all the electronic goods chips enable, depends more on the Taiwan Strait and the South China coast than on any other chunk of the world's territory except Silicon Valley. New 5G radio units, for example, require chips from several different firms, many of which are made in Taiwan. In case of a Taiwan crisis, they'd face delays in acquiring the chips their machinery requires. The concentration of semiconductor production in Taiwan also puts the world economy at risk if the "Silicon shield" doesn't deter China. Today Taiwan is within range of far more destructive Chinese forces-not only an array of short- and medium-range missiles, but also aircraft from the Longtian and Huian airbases on the Chinese side of the Strait, from which it's only a seven-minute flight to Taiwan.

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