LinkedIn Presents.

Welcome to Big Technology Podcast, a show for cool-headed, nuanced conversation, of the tech world and beyond.

Welcome back. China has declared its military ready to fight after completing three days of exercises around Taiwan after the Taiwanese president's meeting with Speaker McCarthy here in the U.S.

China may not be ready to invade Taiwan, but it's certainly making no secret of its ability and perhaps its desire to do so.

The country is fresh off a days-long exercise to practice blockading Taiwan. It's declared itself

ready to fight, and it's even released animations of what hitting targets inside Taiwan

would look like. Now, Taiwan is a nation of 23 million people, including many descendants of China's

nationalist movement who left the mainland as the communist took over. And it's also home to one of the

most important companies in the world, Taiwan Semiconductor. The chips that Taiwan Semiconductor

are differentiated and ubiquitous. They're found literally everywhere, and many are so

technically sophisticated that no one else can produce them. Taiwan Semiconductor's chips are

on iPhones and refrigerators, they're in watches and tea kettles, and should U.S. companies,

for instance, lose access to Taiwan's chips, the country's GDP could take an instant hit,

perhaps, into the double-digit

percentage range. It would be a disaster, which is why everyone is watching this so closely.

Congressman Rokana is our guest today. He is fresh off a trip to Taiwan and is here to share

his perspective on the state of the region, the importance of TSM, as it's called, and the

likeness of a conflict. Congressman

Kana has been involved in legislation. He's met with leaders in the Taiwanese government and

Taiwan Semiconductor, and he represents Silicon Valley, so he's keenly aware of the challenges

and the opportunities here, and I think you're going to love hearing from him. My conversation with

Congressman Rokana coming up right after this.

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