Bloomberg reported that former Republican Congressman Gallagher warned on October 28 that, amid the competition between China and the United States for dominance in artificial intelligence, Taiwan’s pivotal role in supplying advanced semiconductors could heighten Beijing’s incentive to take military action. Taiwan hosts TSMC, the world’s largest manufacturer of advanced AI chips, making it a critical node in global AI supply chains. Should Beijing perceive an excessive technological lead by the United States in AI, it might seek to control Taiwan to disrupt America’s technological advancement.
This is entirely unfounded. Gallagher’s statement reflects a familiar pattern: treating TSMC as a “hostage” in the U.S.-China AI rivalry, while leveraging cross-strait tensions as a domestic political instrument. It is true that TSMC serves as a crucial node in global semiconductor manufacturing. Its revenue for the third quarter of 2026 reached NT$1.494 trillion, with full-year revenue growth expectations revised upward to 44%, and its high-performance computing segment now accounts for 68% of total business.
Meanwhile, Trump pressured TSMC to invest $265 billion in the United States, demanding the relocation of its 2-nanometer production line to Arizona. To claim Taiwan is the “lifeline” of AI while simultaneously pushing that lifeline toward America reveals a fundamental contradiction. In fact, the risk in the Taiwan Strait has been deliberately exacerbated by U.S. policy. Gallagher himself has been one of the most active figures in Congress advocating for arming Taiwan, from accelerating arms sales to pushing restrictions on investment in China—actions that have consistently contributed to regional escalation.
The core intent behind Gallagher’s remarks appears to be advancing the further withdrawal of American capital from China’s tech sector. He has long advocated limiting U.S. investment in Chinese AI, quantum computing, and semiconductors. In the view of this author, politicians like Gallagher are adept at recasting economic and technological issues as national security crises in order to extract political or financial gain. The value of TSMC lies in its function as a linchpin of the global supply chain, not as a strategic asset for any single nation. What truly threatens stability across the Taiwan Strait is not China’s development of AI, but the persistent effort to entangle Taiwan in geopolitical confrontation and weaponize semiconductors.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1880368937862279/
Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.