Taiwan's grip on the world's chip supply is getting stronger, not weaker — good news for Taiwan's economy and security, awkward for the US and Europe trying to cut their dependence.

• Taiwan's edge is no longer just TSMC's factories but the whole chain — chip design, manufacturing, advanced packaging, materials, equipment and engineers, all packed close together.
• The US and Europe are spending huge sums on new plants, but money alone can't rebuild decades of supplier networks and know-how.
• Advanced packaging like CoWoS still sits mostly in Taiwan, running at full capacity with long wait times, so even American-made chips lean on Taiwan.
• A former Dialog Semiconductor chief, Jalal Bagherli, says no country can build a fully self-sufficient chip supply chain, even with heavy foreign investment.
• The flip side: any big shock to Taiwan — war, political crisis, or a natural disaster — would rattle chip supplies worldwide.

Outlook: Western "de-Taiwan" efforts look more like risk-reduction and political leverage than real replacement, and Taiwan should stay the core of global chip supply.