In the lead up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb 24, some observers were already making comparisons between the conflict between the two sides to cross-strait tensions between China and Taiwan. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Feb 20 at the Munich Security Conference that “if Ukraine is invaded, the shock will echo around the world, and those echoes will be heard in East Asia, they will be heard in Taiwan”.
The semiconductor supply chain spans the world but there is a key node in the form of Taiwan, home to the world’s largest operator of foundries, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC). The company controls more than half the global market share via its plants mainly in Taiwan but also in China, US and Singapore.
Semiconductors are essential components without which smartphones, supercomputers, data centres and just about every other thing electronic cannot function. TSMC’s clients include giant tech names like Apple, Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm. Like it or not, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has been intertwined with geopolitics.
