14 Sep 2023

Tiny chips at the centre of giant geopolitical tensions

From Nine To Noon, 9:35 am on 14 September 2023
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company

Photo: wikipedia

Semiconductors or "chips" are the brains behind all modern technology, used in everything from smart phones, to kitchen appliances, cars, medical equipment, and defence intelligence.

Over 90 percent of the most advanced chips globally, are manufactured in Taiwan, with  half made by just one company, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC. 

Economic historian Chris Miller is the author of the Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology. 

He says Taiwan is also at the centre of one of the biggest geopolitical struggles of our time, with China's ongoing and increasingly aggressive demands for reunification.