With a yearly rainfall 2.6 times the global average, it's hard to imagine that water scarcity would be an issue for Taiwan. Over the past five years, Taiwan has no major typhoons, which has led to unprecedented droughts. How can Taiwan ensure a sustainable water supply not only for chipmakers like TSMC but also for the farmers, and its people?

04:52 - Why Taiwan is facing water shortages?
10:15 - The battle for water between rice farmers and chipmakers
13:20 - The "pearl necklace project" to connect reservoirs
21:09 - Why is water so cheap in Taiwan?

Host: Kwangyin Liu
Guest: Chien-Hsin Lai, the Director-General of Taiwan's Water Resources Agency

Producers: Weiru Wang, Ian Huang

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The relationship between China and the U.S. is not only at its lowest point in decades, but appears to be trapped in a downward spiral.

With Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterating his resolve to reunify Taiwan, many articles and podcasts portrayed Taiwan as a potential flashpoint between US and China, as if Taiwan has no agency, and there is nothing Taiwan could do. Is that true?

7:05 - How Taiwan's democracy evolved over the past 30 years?
12:40 - How are the China-based Taiwanese businesses coping with rising geopolitical tension?
19:36 - Germany's much anticipated new China strategy.
23:58 - Is there anything Taiwan can do to avoid a US-China conflict?
30:15 - Is skepticism towards the U.S. really growing in Taiwan's society?

Host: Kwangyin Liu
Guests: Gunter Schubert, Professor of Greater China Studies at University of Tübingen

Producers: Weiru Wang, Ian Huang

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At the CommonWealth semiconductor forum March 16, the 91-year-old TSMC founder Morris Chang reiterated the importance of Taiwan as a major force in semiconductor manufacturing, and stressed that the growing trend of diversification of chip making would result in higher costs.

Chris Miller, Associate Professor of International History at Tufts University, gave a brief speech on how TSMC became the most important chipmaker in the world, followed by an hour-long dialogue with Chang, moderated by CommonWealth chairperson Yinchuen Wu.

This one-hour encounter was mostly peaceful and nostalgic, but occasionally, Chang would raise challenging questions, such as the one about the US friendshoring strategy, or a critical comment on what’s really behind the American CHIPS Act.

Host: Kwangyin Liu
Guests: Morris Chang, TSMC founder
Chris Miller, Associate Professor of International History at Tufts University

E-mail：[email protected]

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For the second episode of the Taiwanology podcast, we hopped on a plane and took a trip to India. The 3 Commonwealth reporters Elaine Huang, Andy Yang and Peiying Hsieh visited India to get insights into the Indian Electronic Manufacturing Industry, and especially the working conditions of Foxconn in India.

Recently, India is becoming increasingly important for international electronic manufacturers, partly due to its low labour costs, partly due to rising manufacturing costs in China.

Numerous international corporations are investing in India to build new factories. Above all, Foxconn, the largest manufacturer of iPhones globally. Together with Vedanta, Foxconn is investing $20 billion in the Indian state of Gujarat to build a gigantic semiconductor manufacturing facility. Further investments into India might follow over the next few years and Foxconn could create thousands, if not hundred of thousands of new jobs in India.

Andy, Elaine and Peiying also met with workers at a current Foxconn facility in India. They even had the opportunity to visit one worker’s home. Everything about Taiwanese investments in the Indian Electronics Manufacturing industry in this episode!

Host: Kwangyin Liu, Managing Editor & English website editor at CommonWealth Magazine
Guests: Elaine Huang, Managing Editor of CommonWealth Magazine
Andy Yang, Reporter of CommonWealth Magazine
Pei-ying Hsieh, Photographer of CommonWealth Magazine

E-mail：[email protected]

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For the debut episode of the Taiwanology podcast, we delved into Taiwan’s role in the global chip supply chain. And, most importantly, its role in the chip war. Our guest is Miin Wu, founder of Macronix International, who has over 50 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. If you own a Nintendo Switch or a Canon camera, your device has chips made by Macronix.

Taiwan’s semiconductor industry is the most competitive in the world. But what does it mean for Taiwan when geopolitical tensions dominate the headlines? When the major countries like the US or those in Europe require that advanced chips be made on their own soil, does this new trend render Taiwan less secure?

Speakers:
-Kwangyin Liu, Managing Editor & English website editor at CommonWealth Magazine
-Miin Wu, Founder & Chairman of Macronix International Co., Ltd

E-mail：[email protected]

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