A nation must think before it acts.
As the US marks one month under the leadership of President Joe Biden, the conversations around Taiwan have shifted. As I discussed in a Taipei Times article (“No more talk of ‘bargaining chips,’” Jan. 30, page 8), with the end of former US president Donald Trump’s administration — and all of the unpredictability associated with it — Taiwan would not have to worry about being used as a “bargaining chip” in some sort of deal with the People’s Republic of China.
The talk of Taiwan being used as a bargaining chip never subsided over those four years, but under Biden, those two words do not need to be used anymore. Early messages and signals from the Biden administration demonstrate continued US commitment to Taiwan’s security.
From last month to this month, the conversation about Taiwan has shifted again — from Taiwan being a “bargaining chip” to Taiwan bargaining its chips.
This year, news stories abound about Taiwan and its importance in the global supply chain of semiconductors, specifically chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC).