Why Taiwan Has a Lock on the World’s Chip Market
Chris Miller explains why it’s so difficult to make high-end semiconductors—and how a war over Taiwan could induce a global crisis.
Integrated circuits. Microchips. Semiconductors. Or, as they’re best known, chips. There are many different names for that tiny piece of silicon that powers and defines our modern lives. From smartphones to cars and washing machines, chips are the very foundation for most of the world as we know it. They are so critical to how modern societies function that they—and their entire supply chains—have become the basis for geopolitical competition.
Ravi Agrawal is the editor in chief of Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RaviReports
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