Taiwan is the greatest risk to Europe’s chip supply

Every fifth chip worldwide comes from Taiwan. That alone is worrying given the current tensions with China. The main reason why the island is so important for the global economy is that the very latest semiconductors are manufactured there. Components that cannot be found anywhere else.

So if China’s head of state Xi Jinping vehemently calls for reunification and Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen also emphatically contradicts this, then no one in the West should be indifferent. Especially not, since the leadership in Beijing now sends fighter planes towards Taiwan almost every day.

The battle of words could turn into a tangible dispute with dramatic consequences: First and foremost for the population, but also for the country’s chip industry. If Taiwan’s semiconductor plants were to be shut down even for a short time, the global industry would suffer – and ultimately consumers too. Because today, no aircraft will take off without chips, no workbench will turn and cell phones cannot be manufactured.