How China Taking Over Taiwan Can Change the Global Technology Industry Forever
JEC NEW YORK — Over the past few years, China has displayed more and more signs that it may try to take control of Taiwan, its small neighboring country. The idea of such a conquest shocks the majority of nations due to the way it violates the New World Order — an unofficial agreement that essentially bans unjustified violations of a nation’s sovereignty. Created after World War Two, the consequences of the New World Order were first experienced by Iraq in the early 1990s. When the country invaded Kuwait under the leadership of Saddam Hussein, the US started the Gulf War, stopping Iraq’s invasion.
But countries have another strategic reason why they don’t want China to conquer Taiwan, besides the fact that it would be a violation of the New World Order. This reason is tied to a single company called Taiwan Semiconductor.
Taiwan Semiconductor’s Importance
Taiwan Semiconductor, headquartered in Hsinchu, is by far the largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips in the world. It monopolizes the market for the world’s highest end chips as it is “responsible for 92% of their production.” (CNBC) Starting in the 1990s, Intel, the largest American microchip making company, had even asked Taiwan Semiconductor if they could help make some of their own chips. Many new cars (including Teslas, Hondas, and numerous other car manufacturers), iPhones, computers, US fighter jets, and other products that rely on high end technology contain Taiwan Semiconductor’s microchips. The company’s chips are so advanced that each one of these microchips is less than the width of 1/1000th of a human hair! Taiwan Semiconductor is currently worth roughly 760 billion dollars, ranking as the world’s ninth most valuable company.
Origins
The development of Taiwan Semiconductor has been rapid over the course of the last three decades. It was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang, who attended schools such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, once the Taiwanese government asked him to start the company. Morris’s breakthrough moment was in 2013 when Taiwan Semiconductor started to work with Apple. Taiwan Semiconductor is Apple’s largest and most important partner today; it has been instrumental in growing Apple to the size it currently is. Taiwan Semiconductor is also partnered with over 500 other companies in the US, including Qualcomm, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices.
Geopolitical Importance
The geopolitical importance of Taiwan is also dependent on Taiwan Semiconductor to some extent. Taiwan is less than 1/20th the size of Texas, but it is critical to every smartphone and car in the world. One can even consider Taiwan Semiconductor as the lifeblood of the country.
Global Impact
If China succeeds in taking over Taiwan, they will officially control 92% of the world’s highest end chips. From an economic standpoint, this will give China significantly greater leverage and bargaining power over tech giants whose products require chips. Governments may also be increasingly dependent on China because many high grade military vehicles contain these chips as well. These risks may potentially explain why the US and several of its allies are willing to go to great lengths to stop China from taking over Taiwan and Taiwan Semiconductor along with it.
Works Cited:
Yang, Lin. “TSMC Anticipates Big Orders. Is Apple One of Them?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2013, archive.nytimes.com/bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/tsmc-anticipates-big-orders-is-apple-one-of-them/.
“The Gulf War.” Miller Center, 21 Mar. 2023, millercenter.org/statecraftmovie/gulf-war.
Tarasov, Katie. “Inside TSMC, the Taiwanese Chipmaking Giant That’s Building a New Plant in Phoenix.” CNBC, CNBC, 8 Nov. 2022, www.cnbc.com/2021/10/16/tsmc-taiwanese-chipmaker-ramping-production-to-end-chip-shortage.html.
