Why chip supremacy is ashield to keep China in check

The Hsinchu Science Park, on Taiwan's west coast, is lush and green, with streets neatly planned and clearly signposted. The buildings are modern and well-maintained - from the outside most visitors wouldn't know that they are among the world's most important factories.

- Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin

Hsinchu used to be famous for its fishball street snacks, but now it's referred to as Taiwan's Silicon Valley, a tech-focused microcosm pipelining workers from school to university and into the semiconductor industry that is crucial to global supply chains.

Semiconductors, also called chips, are tiny pieces of tech that power everything from computers to phones and cars. A chip can carry tens of billions of transistors required to make electronic goods work, with the most advanced ones, mostly made in Taiwan, carrying more.

Last week, Taiwan's semiconductors were in the spotlight after Donald Trump rehashed an old accusation that Taiwan had taken away the US's business. He used the claim to question whether his country's long running support for Taiwan would continue if he becomes president again in November.

"They took almost 100% of our chip industry," he claimed in an interview with Bloomberg. "We should have never let that happen." Trump's comments were likened by some in Taiwan to a mobster's demand for protection money - the US is Taiwan's most important security partner against China's threats of annexation.