The United States and Taiwan are natural partners when it comes to important computer parts, the head of an American research group said this week. Brent Christensen is director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). He said that increasing this cooperation is important for the U.S. The United States increasingly considers Taiwan an important part of its plan to get supplies and products from places other than mainland China. This is especially the case for computer technology and chips. Computer chips are small pieces of hard material that contain many electronic circuits. These devices are used in computers and other electronics. Christensen spoke at a ceremony for a new chip factory for Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation in central Taiwan. Christensen said he was there “to restate the U.S. government’s focus on supply chain security.” The term supply chain describes the processes involved in producing goods and getting them to the people who will use them.