Taiwan's "silicon shield" could be weakening

Many in Taiwan and elsewhere think one major deterrent has to do with the island's critical role in semiconductor manufacturing. Taiwan produces the majority of the world's semiconductors and more than 90% of the most advanced chips needed for AI applications. Bloomberg Economics estimates that a blockade would cost the global economy, including China, 5 trillion in the first year alone. "The international community must certainly do everything in its power to avoid a conflict in the Taiwan Strait; there is too great a cost." The island, which is approximately the size of Maryland, owes its remarkably disproportionate chip dominance to the inventiveness and prowess of one company: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC.