China-Taiwan Tension
Overview:
On 7 Dec 1949, during the ongoing civil war, Chinese nationalist party defeat against Chinese communist party. The losing Kuomintang government (nationalist) fled to the island of Taiwan, establishing the republic of China (ROC) government in exile under Chiang Kai-shek. On the mainland, CCP took power and establish the people's republic of China (PRC) in Beijing under the leadership of Mao Zedong.
Since, the end of the civil war, Taiwan has enjoyed de facto independence. over the years, an increasing number of governments have switched their diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, leaving Taiwan with only 15 diplomatic allies at the end of 2021.
PRC under "one China policy" asserts Taiwan as a part of China. The PRC views the island as a renegade province and vows to eventually "unify" Taiwan with the mainland. Taiwan Kuomintang (KMT) government drafted constitution continues to recognize China, Mongolia, Taiwan, Tibet, and the south China sea as a part of the ROC. The KMT does not support Taiwan's independence and has consistently called for closer ties with Beijing.
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US Interference
Taiwan is the world's top contract manufacturer of semi-conductor chips, and its industry is booming despite cross-strait tensions. Companies in Taiwan were responsible for more than 60 percent of revenue generated by the world's semi-conductor contract manufacturers in 2022. Taiwan semi-conductor Manufactuing company (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip maker and the top supplier for Apple and other U.S. companies. it is one of only two companies in the world (the other is south-Korea based Samsung) that has the technological know-how to make the smallest, most advanced chips, and its manufacturers more than 90 percent of them.
US dependence on Taiwanese chip firms heightens its motivation to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack. recognizing the extent to which the US relies on TSMC for critical chips, Biden has pushed to strengthen the US chip industry. In August 2022, US congress passed a sweeping $280 billion dollar bill to encourage domestic chip manufacturing.
