China’s memory semiconductor industry is entering a new phase of expansion as leading domestic players ramp up investments in both NAND flash and DRAM technologies, amid an AI-driven global memory boom and tightening supply conditions.

Growing demand for AI is driving appetite for server components across cable connectors, cases, and rail kits. This wave has led most major Taiwanese players in the industry to record rising annual revenues, with some exceptions. Rail kit makers in particular have posted strong annual growth as AI servers claim a larger share of their business.

Among the 19 Taiwan-listed semiconductor materials companies tracked by Digitimes, 10 (53%) grew month-on-month in April, 12 (63%) posted positive year-on-year growth, and 14 (74%) are ahead on a cumulative January–April basis. On the surface, those are reasonable numbers — but the distribution underneath tells a more complicated story.

In April 2024, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) executed one of the most significant overhauls of its military architecture in decades. The former Strategic Support Force was disbanded and reorganized into three distinct branches: the Military Aerospace Force, the Cyberspace Force, and the Information Support Force. Together with the existing Joint Logistics Support Force, these constitute a new four-branch support structure — one designed not merely to support terrestrial warfare, but to dominate the space domain itself.

Lee-Feng Chien, innovation economy adviser to the Executive Yuan’s Economic Development Commission, said at an AI forum on May 14 that artificial intelligence is bringing revolutionary changes to the global economy, from drug development to architectural design.

On May 14, Xi Jinping opened his summit with Donald Trump in Beijing by invoking the Thucydides Trap — the idea that a rising power and an established hegemon are structurally destined for conflict. Then he turned to Taiwan. If not handled properly, he warned, the two countries face clashes and even conflicts.