Taiwan flexes chip diplomacy muscles as it faces pressure to share AI wealth with allies

TAIPEI — Taiwan flexed its chip diplomacy muscles at a major trade show last week, portraying itself as a democratic and reliable supplier for the AI revolution, while signalling a willingness to share the benefits of its semiconductor prowess with like-minded partners.Home to companies like TSMC whose chips power AI applications, diplomatically isolated Taiwan has long sought to leverage its tech prowess to garner international support, something Beijing routinely seeks to block saying the island is merely one of its provinces.But Taiwan also faces pressure from the United States, its most important international backer and arms supplier, to shift more chip manufacturing there. That comes as TSMC is investing US$265 billion (S$335 billion) in factories in the state of Arizona.President Lai Ching-te, who, unusually, spoke at two separate events on the same day at the SEMICON Taiwan trade show, said Taiwanese companies were expanding globally to “let resilience create shared prosperity”, and that the island’s chip strength was based on democracy and rule of law.