Taiwan's ‘Silicon Shield’: Techno-authoritarian territories in the global semiconductor supply chain

This commentary analyses a mode of ‘techno-authoritarianism’ emerging in the space between Taiwan's geopolitical position as a leading AI infrastructure giant, rising US authoritarianism and potential Chinese aggression in the future. We argue that Taiwan's ‘Silicon Shield’ produces techno-authoritarian territories of deep surveillance in its science parks which are seen as national assets for countering Chinese aggression and for saving Taiwan's sovereignty. Techno-authoritarianism also emanates outside its sovereign territory with the extension of techno-statecraft from both China and the US seeking to sabotage or instrumentalise Taiwan's semiconductor industry. Ultimately Taiwan's ‘Silicon Shield’ is not a defense mechanism, it is also the site of diffuse and networked forms of geopolitical surveillance of Taiwanese territory from inside and outside.