Asia | Semiconductors and strategy

Taiwan is worried about the security of its chip industry

New laws are meant to prevent espionage and leaking

An employee inspects wafers inside the wafer bumping process area illuminated by yellow light at a Siliconware Precision Industries Co. (SPIL) facility in Taichung, Taiwan, on Tuesday, April 26, 2016. SPIL terminated a deal to sell a NT$56.8 billion ($1.7 billion) stake to China's Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. after taking into account "objective and subjective factors," according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on April 28. Photographer: Billy H.C. Kwok/Bloomberg via Getty Images
|SINGAPORE AND TAIPEI

For a brief moment on May 23rd, it seemed as if American policy towards Taiwan had undergone a sudden and dramatic change. Asked if America would “get involved militarily” to defend Taiwan in case of an invasion, President Joe Biden replied that it would. “That’s the commitment we made,” he said. It was the third time he had made a similar statement—and the third time it was quickly dialled back by his aides.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Bargaining chip”

China’s slowdown

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