Taiwan’s biggest trade has been in semiconductors, a key element of any electronic gadget, accounting for up to a quarter of all exports to mainland China worth about $20 billion a year. But since 2015, China has been building its own official semiconductor industry development plan with the aim of having 35 percent of its needs met by local producers. At one level, this is a natural development of any economy. But in Taiwan’s case it is damaging, because China tries to control to whom else Taiwan can and cannot sell.
