News Snapshot:
So, why should we care about Beijing’s despotic approach? If we’re to be brutally pragmatic, most of the world’s semi-conductors are made in Taiwan. Almost half the world’s container ships pass through the Taiwan Straits, and we’ve just seen what happens to prices after the disruption to shipping in the Red Sea. If China was to assimilate Taiwan by force and the international response included sanctions, and possibly a military response from the US and Japan — it’s the threat of such a response that keeps Taiwan safe, then we shall all pay the price. Literally.