In U.S.-China Tech Feud, Taiwan Feels Heat From Both Sides

In U.S.-China Tech Feud, Taiwan Feels Heat From Both Sides

The island's biggest chip maker has been a coveted partner to both battling giants. But rising nationalism is making it harder to keep the middle ground.People in Taiwan have a rhyme about TSMC's workers: Shift by shift, they are saving Taiwan.Credit...An Rong Xu for The New York TimesBy Raymond ZhongTAINAN, Taiwan — The United States and China are wrestling to lead the world in artificial intelligence, 5G wireless and other cutting-edge technologies. But the real wizardry that makes those advancements possible is being performed on a yam-shaped island that sits between them, geographically and politically.On Taiwan's southern rim, inside an arena-size facility stretched out among lush greenery and coconut palms, colossal machines are manipulating matter at unimaginably tiny scale. A powerful laser vaporizes droplets of molten tin, causing them to