After a trip that drew China's wrath, a defiant Nancy Pelosi concluded her visit to Taiwan on Wednesday with a pledge that the American commitment to democracy on the self-governing island and elsewhere “remains ironclad”.
The speaker's departure for South Korea came just a day before China was scheduled to launch its largest maneuvers aimed at Taiwan in more than a quarter of a century.
China claims Taiwan as its territory and opposes any engagement by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments. The Biden administration, and Pelosi, have said that the United States remains committed to the so-called one-China policy, which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
Let us now give you an idea who this standoff, if it aggravates, might have an impact on your daily life and pocket.
The chip installed in your smartphone may be made in Taiwan. Similarly, the computer on which you work, it also works on the basis of this semiconductor chip. Taiwan is also the largest manufacturer of it in the world.
If you own a car, it also runs on the technology of semiconductor chip and it is very possible that that chip is made in Taiwan. Apart from this, these chips are used in many other electronic gadgets including video games.
In almost all the vehicles manufactured globally, only semiconductor chips are used in their power steering, brake sensor, entertainment system, air bags and parking cameras. These chips are based on computer programming and also process the data of your vehicle. It is almost impossible to manufacture modern vehicles without semiconductor chips.
Not only vehicles, these chips are used in every device that is modern, connected to the Internet and has special features. Semi-conductor chip made in Taiwan is used in every corner of the world, which includes all countries from India to China and America. You may recall that a few months back in India, the lack of semiconductor chips affected the production of cars.
If the current situation worsens to a war over Taiwan, the production and supply of mobile phones to laptops and vehicles will be drastically hit, eventually making them expensive.
According to 2020 data, Taiwan alone accounts for 63 percent of the world's total semiconductor chip production. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) alone produces 54 percent of the world's semiconductor chips.
According to media reports, the computer chips used by the US Air Force in its deadly F-35 fighter jet are made in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company of Taiwan. Apart from this, Taiwan also manufactures Hi-tech "Military Grade Chips" which are used in some other US military equipment.
