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Blueprint for QUAD Tech Resilience and Security - A Report
- THE GEOSTRATA
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
The rise of high-technology industries has fundamentally reshaped the balance of global economic and political power. Semiconductors, data centre infrastructure, and underwater submarine cables have become the strategic lifelines of the modern economy. Yet, these supply chains are highly vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, economic coercion, and military conflict, especially in Asia, where the United States and China are locked in an intensifying rivalry.
Cover by The Geostrata
Against this backdrop, the QUAD nations—the United States, Japan, India, and Australia are uniquely positioned to safeguard and diversify high-technology supply chains in the Indo-Pacific.
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare the fragility of global supply chains, particularly in the semiconductor sector (Meier and Pinto 2024). Production disruptions in Taiwan and South Korea cascaded through the global economy, stalling automotive production and creating shortages of critical electronic components.
Beyond the economic fallout, these disruptions underscored the strategic vulnerability created by the overconcentration of semiconductor manufacturing in a handful of East Asian economies (Arvis et.al.2024). Meanwhile, rising military activity in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait has highlighted the physical risks to global maritime trade routes.
Over 30% of global trade, including the transport of semiconductors (Ji, Nauta, Powell 2023), passes through these contested waters. (Boston Consulting Group 2024)The potential for a military blockade (Elleman 2018) or conflict in these shipping lanes is no longer hypothetical—it is a growing strategic concern. Submarine cable infrastructure adds another layer of vulnerability. Over 95% (Wall and Morcos 2021) of global internet traffic, including financial transactions and communications, flows through submarine cables.
Many of these cables are laid in waters contested by China, raising the risk (Tomaz and Voo 2024 ) of both physical sabotage and state-sponsored cyber attack (Kuo 2025). China’s growing presence in the South China Sea and its investments in global port infrastructure reflect a deliberate strategy to exert influence over these critical trade and communication arteries.
The Indo-Pacific has become the centre of technological competition. Taiwan and South Korea alone account for over 70% of global advanced semiconductor production, with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) (Min-Hua 2022) controlling nearly 60% of the market for advanced nodes. This dominance creates a dangerous strategic vulnerability.
A military conflict over Taiwan or an intentional blockade of the Taiwan Strait could immediately disrupt the global supply of advanced semiconductors, with catastrophic consequences for the global economy.
The strategic significance of Taiwan and South Korea in the global semiconductor supply chain cannot be overstated. TSMC’s dominance in the production of cutting-edge chips (less than 3nm nodes) makes it the most critical single point of failure in the high-technology value chain. Advanced semiconductors produced by TSMC are not only essential for consumer electronics like smartphones and laptops but also for advanced computing, artificial intelligence (AI), military systems, and emerging quantum technologies.
The concerns regarding diversifying TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities are subject to the availability of ecosystems beyond Taiwan, where advanced semiconductor manufacturing is possible. Optimists claim that Taiwan’s strategic value as a semiconductor hub discourages direct military action by China, as a conflict would disrupt global markets and damage China’s technological supply chains.
However, pessimists consider Taiwan’s Silicon Shield as a source of leverage that China can exercise, leading to disruption beyond imagination. Regardless, the fact remains that emulating Taiwan’s manufacturing ecosystem in geographies that are less prone to attack is in the greater interest of the global high-technology supply chain since semiconductors are the workhorses of modern life, defined by computational capabilities each nation holds.
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For all official and academic purposes, use the following as a citation, which follows the Chicago Manual Style.
Nisarg Jani and Sneh Kanwar
“Blueprint for QUAD Tech Resilience and Security”
THE GEOSTRATA, October 31, 2025.
BY NISARG JANI AND SNEH KANWAR
TEAM GEOSTRATA