However, it cannot be ruled out that the importance of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry would make it difficult for the US to remain entirely on the sidelines. Rather than intervening directly, it may become involved through an “alliance-based” approach, encouraging allies such as Japan, the Philippines and Australia to respond collectively, while shifting the battleground into the financial and technological domains — for instance, through financial sanctions. In other words, any future crisis in the Taiwan Strait is likely to involve multi-layered competition in the areas of the military, economy and diplomacy.
