The Return of the Taiwan Tiger - The Wire China
Good evening. It takes about two hours to fly from Taipei to Shanghai. Taipei to Los Angeles is 12 hours. But could it be that Taiwan is now closer to the U. S than it is to China? Thanks to Taiwan tech firms. . .
Good evening. It takes about two hours to fly from Taipei to Shanghai. Taipei to Los Angeles is 12 hours. But could it be that Taiwan is now closer to the U. S than it is to China? Thanks to Taiwan tech firms (most notably TSMC) and Donald Trump’s trade wars, over the first five months of this year the value of Taiwan’s exports to the U. S. exceeded the value of China’s exports to the U. S. (including Hong Kong’s). America is also now Taiwan’s biggest trading partner. Ten years ago, the island’s total trade with China was two times greater than its trade with the U. S. As Chris Horton writes in this week’s cover article, these economic shifts raise some intriguing geopolitical questions. As America’s most powerful companies invest billions in Taiwan, and as TSMC keeps upping the ante on its $265 billion-and-counting plant in Phoenix, will Donald Trump be more inclined to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion or blockade? The way to the president’s heart, after all, is through his wallet. Other items in this week’s issue: Thebrain-computer interfaceindustry;The Big Pictureon Tsinghua University’s AI ambitions and leadership;Rongbin Han talks about his new bookabout online alternative history novels; and China and America’scollision course. Want this emailed directly to your inbox?Sign up to receive our free newsletter. Illustration by Nate KitchTsai + Lai > Xi?Have Taiwan’s last and current presidents, Tsai Ing-wen and Lai Ching-te, played a blinder. Or did they just get lucky? Or both? While the rest of the world has been shocked and awed by the rise and rise and rise of Xi Jinping (three terms and counting), Tsai and Lai (three terms and counting) slowly but surelypivoted Taiwan away from China and towards the U. S. They have been helped along the way by Trump’s trade wars, the Covid pandemic, TSMC and the rise of AI. But perhaps most worrying for Xi, Ukraine is also showing the island’s commander-in-chief how to hold off a larger aggressor by pummeling its energy infrastructure with drones. The first high-altitude brain-computer interface clinical application center in Xizang Autonomous Region of China officially opens at Lhasa People’s Hospital, July 9, 2026. Credit: VCG viaAP ImagesBrain PowerIt sounds like a technology of the future. A quadriplegic moves a chess piece with a robotic arm controlled by a chip implanted in his or her brain. It is in fact a technology of the 2010s, pioneered by American companies such as Elon Musk’s Neuralink. But the Chinese central government, local governments and venture capital investors have woken up to the “brain computer interface” industry and are investing billions of renminbi to spur further advances. As Rachel Cheung writes, these include “non-invasive” devices such as helmets that can detect the nerve signals flashing through a patient’s brain and help to alleviate chronic pain. Students of Tsinghua University’s prestigious AI-focused Yao Class conduct research. Credit:TsinghuaThe Tsinghua-AI Industry NexusWhen UC Berkeley loses a Nobel prize-winning scientist to a rival institution, the usual poachers are MIT, Carnegie Mellon or another top-tier U. S. engineering school. But now Tsinghua University is getting into the act. It recently lured away Nobel-winner Omar Yaghi from UC Berkeley to lead a new AI research lab. In this week’s Big Picture, Savannah Billman looks at the AI ambitions and leaders of Xi Jinping’s alma mater. A Q&A with Rongbin HanRongbin Han is a professor at the University of Georgia and author of a new book on online alternative-history novels that have become popular in China. It follows an earlier work about why online discourse in the country has never really threatened the Chinese Communist Party’s grip on power. In this week’s Q&A with Savannah Billman, Han talks about his favorite works of alt-history lit, why so many of them are set in the Ming dynasty, and what they reveal about the present. “When the official media says something, it often backfires,” he says. “Many people are very influenced by official propaganda, but many are also very alert to anything the Party tries to implant in them. ”Rongbin HanIllustration by Lauren CrowU. S. President Donald Trump tours the Hall of Prayer of Good Harvest with Chinese President Xi Jinping, May 14, 2026, at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Credit: The White House viaFlickrTrump, Xi and ThucydidesDon’t be fooled by Trump and Xi’s bonhomie at their May summit,write Ali Wyne and Jessica Chen Weiss. For all the best-bros-forever vibes, the world’s two most powerful nations remain on a collision course. Subscribe today forunlimited access, starting at only $25 a month. Cover StoryTaiwan’s “tiger” economy is back and burning bright. Driven by U. S. demand for Taiwan tech products, the island’s economy grew almost 15 percent in the first quarter of this year and it now exports more goods to America than China does. It is all part of a decade-long strategic pivot by Taiwan’s last two presidents away from China and towards the U. S. Corporate Risk Intelligence for National Security, Compliance & Due DiligenceLearn More