Taipei just lit the fuse. Taiwan’s Commerce Ministry has officially added Huawei Technologies and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC) to its strategic high-tech commodities export control list. That means no Taiwanese company can ship advanced tech to either firm without government approval.
This is not a symbolic gesture. Huawei and SMIC are the crown jewels of China’s AI and semiconductor ambitions. Cutting them off from Taiwan’s chip ecosystem is like pulling the plug on Beijing’s tech lifeline.
The numbers are staggering. Mainland China buys 54 percent of all chips produced in Taiwan. That’s not a typo. That’s over $90 billion in annual revenue now hanging by a thread. Taiwan just put its biggest customer on notice.
The list is not subtle. It includes entities like the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and now Huawei and SMIC sit right beside them. The message is clear. Taipei sees these firms not just as competitors, but as national security threats.
This move didn’t come out of nowhere. In 2023, Huawei shocked the West by unveiling a 7-nanometer chip made in China, despite sanctions. A teardown revealed TSMC fingerprints on the silicon. That discovery triggered a crackdown. The U.S. ordered TSMC to halt shipments to Chinese clients. Taiwan followed suit.
Now the screws are tightening. Taiwanese firms must apply for export permits, and those permits are not guaranteed. The restrictions cover plant construction technologies, chipmaking materials, and advanced lithography tools. In other words, everything China needs to build its own chip empire.
Beijing will not take this lightly. A blockade of Taiwan is no longer a distant threat. It is a card China has rehearsed and may now feel justified to play. The island’s economy is exposed. The West cannot replace China’s demand.
Sources:
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/6134693
https://themalaysianreserve.com/2025/06/15/taiwan-imposes-technology-export-controls-on-huawei-smic