Strait Forward

How did Arizona become a major hub for Taiwanese semiconductor investment, and what did it take to make the partnership work?
In a new mini-series about “How Arizona Became America’s Chip Hub,” host Channing Lee visits Phoenix to speak with Sandra Watson, President and CEO of the Arizona Commerce Authority (ACA). Watson traces the relationship behind TSMC’s Arizona investment, beginning with a 2013 trip to Taiwan, years before a specific project was on the table. They discuss how Arizona brought government, industry, and universities together to attract investment, address the cost challenges of U.S. manufacturing, and build the supplier networks and talent base that semiconductor companies need. Watson explains how ACA serves as a single point of contact for businesses navigating different levels of government, and why consistent support across Republican and Democratic administrations helped build trust. The conversation also explores Arizona’s growing ties with Taiwan, opportunities in AI and healthcare, and what other states can learn from Arizona’s approach.

Strait Forward is a podcast by the Special Competitive Studies Project.

In this episode of Strait Forward, recorded at the Taiwan Expo USA in Dallas, Texas, host Channing Lee explores how the United States and Taiwan can partner on robotics. She sits down with CH Wu (吳志煌) of Aeolus Robotics, a Taiwanese company whose robots already work in airports and nursing homes across Taiwan and Japan. Joined by the company’s robot Aeobot, nicknamed xiaobai (小白), CH shares how the company trains physical AI, why robots replace tasks rather than jobs, and how security patrols at U.S. data centers became its first American pilot projects. They explore why CH sees the United States and Taiwan as partners rather than competitors in the budding, global robotics industry.

Strait Forward is a podcast by the Special Competitive Studies Project.

In this episode of Strait Forward, host Channing Lee goes to the Taiwan Expo 2026 in Dallas, where more than 150 Taiwanese companies are showcasing Taiwan’s latest innovations in artificial intelligence, autonomous drones, robotics, semiconductor manufacturing, and more.
As economic ties between Taiwan and Texas continue to strengthen, Taiwanese firms are looking to the Lone Star State as a growing hub for investment and advanced manufacturing. TAITRA Chairman James Huang shares his perspectives on the future of U.S.–Taiwan trade, the opportunities for Taiwanese businesses in Texas, and the challenges of expanding into the American market.
Channing also speaks with MICROIP’s Peter Wang, Gye Tay Machinery Works’s (GMW) Jacob Liao, and Iván Romo of SMarTsol Technologies, the supplier of Techman Robot, about their technologies and their plans to expand into the United States.

Strait Forward is a podcast by the Special Competitive Studies Project.

In this crossover episode with our “Chipping In” event series, host Channing Lee takes the stage with Taiwan's Minister of Digital Affairs, Lin Yi-jing (林宜敬), one year into his tenure at the Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda). A former IBM researcher, startup founder, and bestselling author, Minister Lin explains why "who controls AI controls the past," how Taiwan is building a sovereign AI corpus and a weekly-updated “Basic Evaluation Benchmark” that tests 180+ models for Taiwanese values, and why he calls Taiwan the "honeypot of the free world" as it absorbs 2.6 million cyberattacks a day. They discuss how a Trojan horse incident inspired new cybersecurity standards; Taiwan's push for access to frontier cyber models, data backups and satellite links for wartime resilience; and how an anti-scam partnership with a U.S. company traced a thread from Taipei to Cambodia. Plus: what keeps the minister up at night, and why he sees echoes of Oppenheimer in today's AI race.

Strait Forward is a podcast by the Special Competitive Studies Project.

In this episode of Strait Forward, Channing Lee tours Foxconn's Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin campus with Robert Schlaeger, Head of U.S. Region Public & Government Affairs at Foxconn, to unpack how the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant built one of its largest U.S. footprints — and is enabling America to build in the age of AI.

They trace Foxconn's roots in America back to Houston in the 1980s, discuss the pivot from Wisconsin's original consumer-electronics plans to today's booming AI data server production, and explore how the company trains a local workforce through partnerships with Wisconsin’s technical colleges and Taiwanese universities.

Strait Forward is a podcast by the Special Competitive Studies Project.