Japan’s Moon Landing and Taiwan’s Industries: Difficult Challenges Can Also Nurture Critical-Component Suppliers

Japan has become the fifth country to land on the Moon, after the United States, the Soviet Union, India, and China. Yesterday I spoke with two aerospace experts, using Taiwan’s automotive industry as an example. Because Taiwan’s market is too small, it cannot support a vehicle manufacturer at scale. Even with tens of billions invested, decades of work, and the backing of an ambitious dream passed down through entrepreneurial families, none has built a car brand at scale. Our discussion led to this conclusion: although Taiwan still has not built a globally influential, well-known automotive brand, the process has produced many globally competitive automotive component suppliers for Taiwan. The same reasoning applies to aerospace and satellites. We may ultimately be unable to make launching a Taiwan-made rocket into space cost-effective. But if the process develops several influential suppliers of critical components in Taiwan’s aerospace industry, that is a benefit too. Robin: ‘This is worth attempting precisely because it is difficult. By confronting difficult challenges, we can become better versions of ourselves.’