Taiwan, though small, is among the most important countries in the world. Ever since China’s Kuomintang political party lost a civil war to the Chinese Communist Party in 1949 and fled to the island now known as Taiwan, Beijing has viewed the nation as a rebel province and has vowed to seize it. In response, the United States said it would protect Taiwan from Chinese control and has channeled significant resources toward that end.

But why does America pay so much attention to this tiny island of just 23 million people that lies over 7,500 miles away? The answer is partly because Taiwan is one of Asia’s few democratic success stories, with political values aligned with those of the U.S. It’s partly because Taiwan is among Asia’s freest societies, with a system that could show Chinese citizens that there is a superior alternative to the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarianism. It is partly because Taiwan’s geographic location makes it a militarily valuable partner to America. But there is also another factor that is becoming increasingly important: semiconductors.

To fully understand the importance of Taiwan, one must understand its role in the semiconductor war.

Semiconductors

Semiconductors, also called microchips or integrated circuits, are among the most important pieces of technology in our high-tech world. Journalist Cindy Palm said that “semiconductor chips are the new oil, in terms of our dependence on them.”

Microchips are made from a metalloid (generally silicon) with transistors carved onto it. A transistor is like a mini on/off switch that allows semiconductors to control electric currents.

Transistors are the reason why everything a microchip does can be boiled down to ones and zeroes. When a transistor is on, it is represented by a one; when it is turned off, a zero. Thus, when a chip has multiple transistors, through different equations of ones and zeroes, a chip can do different things. The more transistors a chip has, the more equations it can produce and the more powerful its device will be.

Engineer Gordon Moore, noticing patterns in semiconductor manufacturing, theorized in 1975 that the number of transistors on the most advanced semiconductors would double every two years. This observation, known as Moore’s Law, has stood the test of time. Because of this, even if a country’s semiconductor technologies are only a few years behind, it is still at a sizable disadvantage.

Semiconductors are vitally important because they are essential in many everyday items, such as cars, computers, phones and aircraft. But semiconductors are also crucial for weapons manufacturing. The better the semiconductors a country has, the stronger its army can be.

Semiconductor History

The semiconductor was invented in the U.S. in 1947. Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, the semiconductor market was dominated by nasa and the U.S. military, giving America the edge.

In the 1970s, Taiwan began working on plans to develop its own semiconductor market. Taipei asked Taiwanese engineers working abroad to return to the island and help get its industry off the ground. Among these engineers was Morris Chang.

Chang had previously worked on semiconductors at Texas Instruments, one of the great original U.S. microchip manufacturers. He had been struggling to find a good job when the Taiwanese government approached him, asking him to head Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute. He accepted. Without the business model this man thought up, Taiwan would not be nearly the semiconductors powerhouse it is today.

While working in America, some of Chang’s co-workers wanted to start their own semiconductor business, but they didn’t have the funds to build fabs (microchip fabrication plants). Fabs are intricately complicated and expensive facilities. Chang had an idea that would solve this problem.

He started the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (tsmc), whose purpose was simply to make fabs. His plan: tsmc would make and sell those chips designed by American manufacturers. This allowed American scientists to start companies that advanced semiconductor technology without the expense of building and maintaining fabs.

An American-Taiwanese semiconductor relationship blossomed. As a result, Taiwan’s semiconductor market took off.

Semiconductors Today

Since then, Taiwan has become the largest semiconductor producer in the world, making over 60 percent of the world’s microchips and a stunning 92 percent of the most advanced types. This puts China at a major disadvantage in two main ways.

Firstly, Taiwan is far more aligned with the U.S. than it is with China, giving America first choice of the world’s most advanced chips.

Secondly, China is now dependent on Taiwan, who is dependent on the U.S. This makes Beijing indirectly dependent on its greatest enemy.

As a result, China has worked desperately to build its own semiconductor industry, regardless of U.S. attempts to hinder it. Beijing has illegally purchased American chips for its own uses and worked to steal American semiconductor designs.

In 2022, the Biden administration responded with the Chips and Science Act, which bans U.S. chipmakers from working with China and also bans any country that works with America from sharing semiconductor business with China. This will stunt China’s advanced chip production and, therefore, its ability to grow militarily as quickly as it would like to.

However, China is attempting to use these restrictions to grow its global influence.

In 2021, the Trumpet wrote:

If China could loosen itself from this [chip restrictions] and other constraints holding it back, it would become almost unstoppable. To achieve this goal, China is calling for an alliance against the U.S., rallying support from North Korea, Serbia, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Russia.

At present, this anti-U.S. bloc that China and Russia are attempting to build does not have the technological know-how to rival America and its partners, in terms of chip making. But adding Taiwan to the group would change all of that.

Will Taiwan Fall?

For decades, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has foretold Taiwan’s conquest. Most commentators today agree with his forecast.

A September National Interest report predicts Taiwan will not last the decade because the only way America can deter a Chinese invasion on the island is through direct conflict with China—a war many believe America could not win.

As Mr. Flurry has shown, Taiwan’s impending fall aligns with Bible prophecy.

The Bible reveals that a mighty Russo-China-led Asian alliance is rising right now. We expect Taiwan will be under Chinese control when these “kings of the east” fully rise (Revelation 16:12).

Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27 say that this prophesied Asian alliance will soon form into a formidable force. It will even draw the nations of Europe into a temporary allegiance with Asia. Together, they will besiege the U.S. economically (explained thoroughly here).

Taiwan’s fall will further highlight U.S. weakness. This could contribute to a worldwide move away from the U.S.

Some believe Taiwan’s fall—whether militarily or diplomatically—would not ensure Chinese control of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. This is because, even if China controlled Taiwan, it would still need the help of many other nations in the supply chain to continue tsmc’s market. The Chips and Science Act would work against this. But Bible prophecy tells us that most of the world, including the Europeans, are about to turn on the U.S. It is very possible that major players in the semiconductor market will forsake America’s chip restrictions on China, giving a Taiwan-controlling Beijing vast control of the world’s semiconductor supply.

It would be difficult to sustain the market without America, but China has already shown itself capable of adapting and advancing in ways that have confounded analysts countless times over the decades. Should it find a way to block its enemy from accessing one of the most important technologies in the world, it would be detrimental to America, both socially and militarily.

The rising “kings of the east” are prophesied to have technologically advanced weaponry. Jeremiah 50 describes this coming Asian axis. Verse 9 says that, in battle, “their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man; none shall return in vain.” Our free book Russia and China in Prophecy, says about this verse: “The end of the verse illustrates how effective the attack will be—without any munitions spent in vain!”

Not a single Asian munition will be spent in vain! This requires incredible precision and is seemingly impossible with Asia’s current weaponry.

In addition, the great speed of these kings speaks to a stunning level of technological advancement that they will obtain. After Asia and Europe work together to besiege America, the Bible makes clear that they will turn against each other. The Asians are prophesied to conquer a German-led Europe, Latin America and Middle East; and they will do so very quickly! This colossal war (against Europe mainly) will make up what is referred to in the Bible as the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord will last one year (Isaiah 34:8; Ezekiel 4:6). Revelation 9 divides this year into three woes.

The first woe, prophesied in verses 1-11, consists of a German-led Europe invading Asia. Verse 5 specifies that this invasion will last five months. For the rest of the year, Asia will be on the offensive—the second woe.

Nahum prophesies that Asia will utterly destroy this European alliance (read our free booklet Nahum—An End-Time Prophecy for Germany). Based on the timeline given in the Bible, we can know that Asia will utterly destroy this Europe-led superpower in just seven months! In this short time frame, this army will kill one third of mankind (verse 18).

Without the most advanced weaponry—semiconductors—in the world, this would seemingly be impossible!

The End of It All

But this is not where the story ends. Before Asia can succeed in conquering the world, Jesus Christ will return and put an end to the war! (Revelation 19:11).

The kings of the east will soon be no more! Their defeat will usher in a time when the whole Earth will “beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isaiah 2:4; Micah 4:3)

Why is Taiwan so important? In short, because its fall will be a major step in ushering in the glorious rule of Jesus Christ!