That's important, because 80percentt of all personal computers go through Taiwan to pick up parts or to get assembled.
"Finally, after more than 40 years, we would have had the torch relay pass through Taiwan," he said.
That canceled an agreement Mr. Tsai had signed in Beijing in December 2006 allowing the torch to come through Taiwan.
Typhoon Morakot swept through Taiwan over the weekend, dumping more than two metres of rain on the island in just two days and causing the worst flooding in 50 years.
Instead, an American fleet much more powerful than any armed force China can deploy is based in Okinawa in Japan while an "island chain" linked to Washington runs from there down through Taiwan to the Philippines, which is a US treaty ally.
KDDI, Japan's major carrier for international calls, whose communications along undersea cables out of Japan went through Taiwan before reaching Southeast Asia and beyond, said that the use of alternative lines would limit the possibility of a complete breakdown in communications.
