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The world is becoming increasingly dependent on advanced microchips to power its high-end technology, However, they are made by just one company in Taiwan, TSMC, meaning the rest of the world is largely reliant on the country to produce its microchips. This is no accident and is in fact by Taiwanese design. \\nOver three decades ago Taiwan decided to focus its resources on becoming the most advanced producer of microchips. Not only has this been of great profit for Taiwan\\u2019s economy its helped with security too \\u2013 offering the country protection from its neighbour China by creating what\\u2019s been described as the \\u2018Silicon shield\\u2019, in other words, the US is largely dependent on Taiwan to sustain its high-end tech. \\nGiven both the USA\\u2019s and EU\\u2019s recent announcements that they are now heavily investing in and subsidising their own microchip industries, the question becomes is this still sustainable?

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier \\nProducer: Christopher Blake and Ravi Naik\\nEditor: Tara McDermott