Beijing [China], May 4 (ANI): In its bid to become self-reliant in manufacturing microchips, experts fear that China could use military force to gain control over Taiwan's semiconductor industry.

Taiwan is currently the largest global producer of microchips that power cars, phones and computers.

Martijn Rasser, a senior fellow at the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security said microchips will be crucial for developing technology going forward, the Express reported citing his interview with Fox News.

"By gaining control over Taiwan's semiconductor industry, China would control the global market. They would have access to the most advanced manufacturing capabilities and that is even more valuable than controlling the world's oil," he said.

Meanwhile, Taiwan is currently preparing for an ever more likely military invasion from China.

Taiwan's Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, warned that China seems to be preparing for their final military assault against Taiwan.

"We are trying to make more investment in our military, especially the asymmetric type of warfare to deter the Chinese from thinking about using military force against Taiwan," he said in a statement.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. (ANI)