This is Taiwan's secret weapon in case of an invasion from China

China and the United States are two of the most important superpowers in the world. However, everything points out that both nations could clash over the island of Taiwan.

Tension between Beijing and Washington have been growing in the past decade or so, forcing many third parties to take precautions in case of a worldwide conflict.

One of the biggest issues between Beijing and the West in the last few years have been microchips and the technology necessary to development. US and European companies have been limiting China’s access in fear that they might be used against them.

With this in mind, Bloomberg reports that chipmakers ASML and TSMC have developed a “kill switch” that can remotely shutdown their chip making machines.

TSMC, Business Insider writes, is a Taiwanese corporation that manufactures 90% of the world’s most advanced processor chips. So, they have skin in the game, to say the least.

According to The Guardian, the Dutch tech company asml, one of the top chipmakers in Europe, was forced to cancel hi-tech microchip machinery exports to China after pressure of the United States.

Business Insider highlights that the United States imposed sanctions to restrict the export of advanced US-manufactured AI chips to China, rising tension between Beijing and Washington.

Taiwan is a global hub for semiconductor chips, which are used from smartphones to data centers. A war with China would have worldwide repercussions that would destabilize all major economies, if not the entire planet.

The government in Taipei was formed in the late 1940s from the remnant of the losing nationalist side after the end of the Chinese Civil War. This Taiwanese rule is not recognized by Beijing, which considers the island nation as a breakaway province.

Officially, both Beijing and Taipei agree there’s only one China, with an open debate about which one is the legitimate government. However, in the last few years, the idea of formally declaring independence from the mainland has grown in popularity on the island.

The election of independence sympathizer William Lai as Taiwan’s newest president seems to have raised the temperature, with Beijing making military encroaching the island, in a gesture many experts believe is a not-so-indirect threat.

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping has promised that he’s taking steps to bring back Taiwan under Beijing’s control.

However, this begs the question if the entire world will go to war over such a small little thing, like a chip?

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