Taiwan and the Strait
A contested island, a busy sea lane and the centre of the chip trade.
The basics
Taiwan is a self-governed island of about 23 million people off China's south-east coast. Beijing claims it as part of China and has not ruled out using force to unify it. The United States has no formal diplomatic ties with Taipei but keeps unofficial relations and sells it weapons under the Taiwan Relations Act.
The Taiwan Strait, about 130 km wide at its narrowest, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Taiwan is also home to the factories that make most of the world's most advanced semiconductors.
Why it matters from India
A crisis here would disrupt chip and electronics supply, and shipping and trade through East Asia, both of which Indian industry depends on.
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MoveThis is a strategic draw disguised as pageantry.
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MoveThis is Trump's play: extend the economic ceasefire long enough to stabilize commodity markets and avoid tariff shocks…
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MoveWood is executing a calculated hedge against consensus.
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MoveTrump's personal greeting of Xi at the airport signals a strategic reset: after May's Beijing summit, where both sides…
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MoveThis indictment is Taiwan's move to establish itself as an autonomous enforcer of AI export controls, not merely as the…
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MoveThis is a play in narrative positioning, not near-term mobilization.