Most of the time, when “Taiwan” pops up in the news, we just skip over it. It’s usually about another map, some military exercises, or another warning involving China and the US. It feels far away, like it’s not really happening. It seems like something for the big shots, not for us everyday folks.
But that’s not right—
Taiwan isn’t just some political issue. It’s actually why your phone is so smart, why you have AI tools, and why the future we’re all hoping for hasn’t fallen apart yet.
It’s a tough pill to swallow, but the world’s most sophisticated tech relies on an island that’s tiny compared to many European nations.
Taiwan accounts for around half of the world’s global foundry capacity and produces over 90% of the most advanced semiconductors — the chips that make AI work, run cloud services, power military equipment, and fuel almost anything considered cutting-edge. Without them, progress stalls. Economies grind to a halt. The balance of power shifts.
AI isn’t some mystical force; it’s built on silicon, and most of that silicon comes from Taiwan.
We often talk about artificial intelligence as if it’s some ethereal thing in the cloud. But it’s not. It’s physically located in factories, on an island that could easily become a flashpoint for conflict.
China’s Interest in Taiwan Extends Beyond Historical Claims
While China officially presents Taiwan as a historical matter — about bringing it back into the fold, national honour, and finishing what’s left undone.
But indeed, this isn’t just about what happened before. It’s about what’s coming.
China understands that leadership in technology translates directly into global influence. Today, however, it still relies heavily on foreign-made advanced chips. Taiwan sits at the centre of this dependency, producing the overwhelming majority of the world’s leading-edge processors used in AI, surveillance systems, cybersecurity, and modern warfare.
On the flip side, attacking Taiwan would be disastrous. Sanctions, economic isolation, and severe supply-chain shocks would follow — not just for the world, but for China itself. Roughly one third of Taiwan’s total exports consist of semiconductors, many of which flow directly into Chinese manufacturing. Taiwan is therefore too important to ignore, but too dangerous to seize.
The US Isn’t Really Looking Out for Taiwan Itself
While the US often speaks about democracy, a rules-based international order, and regional stability, there is a more fundamental reason behind its actions.
If China were to gain control over Taiwan’s chip manufacturing, the global distribution of technological power would shift almost overnight. Companies such as Apple, Nvidia, AMD and Qualcomm depend heavily on Taiwanese production. Apple alone accounts for roughly one quarter of Taiwan’s leading foundry revenue, while Nvidia’s share has surged into the low double digits with the explosion of AI demand.
In that scenario, AI leadership would tilt decisively, and supply chains would become instruments of leverage rather than neutral infrastructure. The digital world would grow less open — and far more strategic.
When the US backs Taiwan, it is not merely defending an island. It is defending a system that prevents any single country from dominating the technologies that will define the next century.
This is precisely why Washington maintains an intentionally unclear stance. Strategic ambiguity is not weakness; it is the final, fragile barrier preventing a full systemic rupture.
Reducing Risk Is Not the Same as Cutting Ties
“De-risking” does not mean abandoning Taiwan, even if political rhetoric sometimes suggests otherwise.
Governments talk about reshoring production, achieving technological sovereignty, and reducing reliance on foreign supply chains. Yet Taiwan’s dominance is not simply the result of capital or machinery. It is the product of decades of accumulated expertise, extreme precision, and industrial scale that cannot be replicated quickly — or cheaply.
Even optimistic projections suggest that, over the next ten years, no alternative manufacturing hub will come close to matching Taiwan’s role in advanced chip production.
Our generation grew up believing that technology would always improve, always be available, and remain politically neutral.
That assumption is fragile.—
The devices we rely on, the digital spaces we build, and the AI systems promised to transform everything depend on a supply chain vulnerable to disruption by a single conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
In practical terms, we are building the future on one critical bottleneck.