U.S. businesses and consumers rely heavily on China and Taiwan for key intermediate inputs and final goods. Specifically, 92% of the world’s most advanced chips that power our smart devices are made in Taiwan. Any disruption in our trade with Taiwan due to a Chinese attack would leave most advanced U.S. tech companies, and the U.S. economy at large, in the lurch. New evidence from the open-source intelligence entity New Kite Data Labs sheds light on locations in Taiwan that may be strategic priorities for China economically or militarily (or both). This evidence may indicate the kind of documentation China’s military is gathering on Taiwan, and it portends a heightened risk to U.S. goods trade and digital flows with and through Taiwan, should there be a crisis
in the Taiwan Strait.
