90% of the world’s AI hardware is manufactured in Taiwan; 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips (they power AI) is made in Taiwan. This gives us a sense of why AI is an industrial priority for Taiwan.

Computex (June 2-5) is Taiwan’s flagship industry trade show. (Begun in 1986, it’s one of the world's oldest and largest computer trade shows.)

Our guest today is technology columnist Tim Culpan. Culpan is the writer of “Culpium”, and a former writer at Bloomberg News where he spent 18 years - first as a technology reporter, then as a tech columnist. He's lived in Taiwan for 25 years and has launched his podcast “Supply Chained”. We discuss the latest developments in Taiwan’s A.I. industry, where Trump and China factor into all of this, and what you can expect to see at this year’s COMPUTEX.

Today’s episode is hosted by Albert Chang-Yoo.

• Tim Culpan tracks the Taiwanese AI supply chain through his index CASCI (Culpium AI Supply Chain Index). Categories include capacity (construction, manufacturing, e.g. Chroma ATE), upstream (semiconductor production, e.g. TSMC, MediaTek), midstream (power supply systems, modules, e.g. Gigabyte, Delta Electronics), and downstream (assembling servers, e.g. Quanta, Foxconn).
• Taiwan faces a looming energy crisis spurred by A.I. demands. As of 2025, 81.3% of Taiwan’s energy supply is produced from fossil fuels, 12.7% from renewables, and 1.2% from nuclear. (In May 2025, the last operating nuclear plant was decommissioned.) Taiwan also relies on imports for almost 98% of its energy.
• “Jensanity”: Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang broke ground on its new 4-hectare headquarters in Taipei last week. He aims for the 4,000-person campus to be functional by 2030.
• Also last week, AMD’s Lisa Su announced a US$10 billion co-investment into the Taiwanese supply chain.

You can follow Tim Culpan’s work on Culpium, or by listening to his podcast “Supply Chained”.

EPISODE CREDIT | Producer, Emily Y. Wu @emilyywu | Host, Albert Chang-Yoo | Audio Editing, Wayne Tsai | Research, Zach Chiang, Albert Chang-Yoo

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World Press Freedom Index is an annual report released by the international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on the status of press freedom in 180 countries. Its 2026 report, released on April 30, found that press freedom around the world is at a 25-year low.

Our guest today is Aleksandra Bielakowska, Advocacy Manager of RSF’s Asia-Pacific bureau and President of the RSF Taiwan Chapter. In this episode, we walk through the latest global findings, the reasons behind the decrease of press freedom in Asia, China’s growing media influence abroad, and the current threats to Taiwan’s media landscape. Key points:

• World Press Freedom is at the lowest since RSF began tracking in 2002. This year, 94 countries (52.2%) are in a “difficult” or “very serious” situation
• Across Asia, authoritarianism and repressive policies from democratic countries have fueled the declines of press freedom in places like Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam.
• China has increased its state-media presence across the world, and targeted foreign press agencies in countries like Denmark and the Philippines with harassment campaigns.
• Although Taiwan’s press freedom remains highly-ranked (28th), its score dropped by four places (from 24th), due to deepening political polarization, economic troubles, and ongoing Chinese disinformation

Learn more about Reporters Without Borders and explore their work on global press freedom, including their disinformation tracking initiative, “The Propaganda Monitor”.

RSF’s photojournalist exhibition, “Shooting the World of Tomorrow”, is currently on display at the Alliance Française de Taïwan (台灣法國文化協會) until June 30. Address: 2F, No. 107, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City.

EPISODE CREDIT | Producer, Emily Y. Wu @emilyywu | Host, Zack Chiang | Audio Editing, Wayne Tsai | Research, Albert Chang-Yoo | Production Assistance, Teagan Wangaard

Support us by donating on patreon.com/Taiwan

Follow us on Twitter @ghostislandme

A Ghost Island Media production | www.ghostisland.media

Support the show: https://patreon.com/Taiwan

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matej Šimalčík is the Executive Director of CEIAS (Central European Institute of Asian Studies), a think tank that focuses on foreign and security policy issues related to East Asia. Its new report “Partners in need, partners indeed? Tracking Europe-Taiwan relations amidst global disruption” is an updated overview of Taiwan’s relations with 30 European countries.

Šimalčík’s research looks at China’s economic and political presence and influence in Central Europe, elite relations, corrosive capital, and the role of European legal instruments in mitigating risks posed by China. In 2022, he founded the China-Europe Academic Engagement Tracker project. In 2025 Šimalčík was a visiting fellow at Taiwan’s INDSR (Institute for National Defense and Security Research).

Taiwan and Czechia relations are at an old time high, but results of the 2025 Czech parliamentary election has raised concerns on the future of the relations.

Key decisions makers mentioned today include Andrej Babiš (Czech Prime Minister, since December 2025; 2017-2021), Lin Chia-lung (Taiwan Minister of Foreign Affairs, since 2024 ), Miloš Vystrčil (Czech Senate President, since 2020), Zdeněk Hřib (Mayor of Prague 2028-2023), Markéta Pekarová Adamová (President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament 2021-2025), Marek Ženíšek (Czech Minister of Science, 2024-2025), Miloš Zeman (Czech President 2013-2023), Václav Havel (first democratic president of the Czech Republic 1993-2003), Hu Jintao (Leader of China 2002-2012), Xi Jinping (Leader of China, since 2012).

The report divides the European countries’ relations with Taiwan into four categories:

- “Old Partners” - countries with existing long-term ties with Taiwan: UK, France, and Germany.

- “New Friends” - the Central and European countries that are actively engaging with Taiwan: Czechia, Lithuania, and Poland.

- “Pragmatists” - countries having concerns with engaging with Taiwan but still enjoying economic benefits with Taiwan.

- “Laggards” - countries having underdeveloped relations with Taiwan.

Although the engagement between Taiwan and some European countries remains low, Šimalčík has seen a small uptake since 2022. This indicates that Taiwan’s engagement with “old partners” and “new friends” is setting an example for other countries.

Link to “Partners in need, partners indeed? Tracking Europe-Taiwan relations amidst global disruption”: https://ceias.eu/partners-in-need-partners-indeed-europe-taiwan-relations/

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Producer: Emily Y. Wu
Researcher: Zack Chiang, Zoe Hu, Hai-Ahn Nguyen
Editing: Wayne Tsai

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A Ghost Island Media production: www.ghostisland.media

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