Chip-maker Taiwan’s electorate has rebuffed Beijing
Taiwan is pivotal to the geopolitics of Asia and the future of global technological leadership. Communist China has never controlled Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, but arrogates to itself the right to take Taiwan over at a time of its choice, regardless of what Taiwanese think. How to deal with Communist China is therefore always a central issue in Taiwan’s elections.
On Saturday, Taiwan’s people handed the island’s presidency to Vice President Lai Ching-te. It was the third consecutive presidential election won by the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). But the DPP lost its narrow legislative majority, constraining Lai’s ability to act on his inclination to actualize Taiwan’s independence from mainland China.
Taiwan is home to over 60% of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing and makes over 90% of the world’s most advanced chips. Those chips help run laptops, smartphones, satellites, cars and a slew of electrical appliances, including fridges and TVs. But Taiwan’s prowess in electronics extends far beyond semiconductors.
Chinese electronics exports are mostly produced by Taiwanese-owned companies (like Foxconn, Pegatron, Acer and Asustek) that assemble products in China and export them to the rest of world, using high-end components made in Taiwan. Thus, while China has an annual trade surplus of nearly $900 billion with the world, it runs a bilateral trade deficit with Taiwan of over $100 billion annually. Taiwan was ruled by Japan for 50 years (1895-1945) and achieved rapid development.
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