Taiwan's former president Tsai Ing-wen headlines a Silicon Valley defense-tech conference this week, a sign of how central Taiwan has become to Western security planning — good news for Taiwan's standing with Washington.

• Tsai opens Stanford's 2026 technology and national security conference, her first US trip since leaving office.
• She is the first former Taiwanese leader to headline this defense forum.
• The pitch: Taiwan's chip plants and supply chains are now treated as irreplaceable to US and allied defense.
• This year's theme is allied innovation and defense manufacturing under great-power rivalry, with a focus on battlefield AI, drones, and asymmetric warfare.
• The event pulls in Silicon Valley venture money, defense startups, and Pentagon brass — making it a funding channel for Taiwanese hardware and chip-design firms.

Outlook: Expect more joint US-Taiwan defense tech work on drones and low-orbit satellite communications, and more Chinese objections to Tsai's travel.