Robert Tsao, the Taiwan tycoon who challenges communist China

PWith a tatami mat and surrounded by beautiful wooden chairs, Robert Tsao’s living room is converted into a meditation room. The bird’s eye view of Daan Park, in the center of Taipei, worthy of the penthouses of Central Park in New York, recalls the insolent successes of this entrepreneur who amassed billions by building UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation), Taiwan’s number two semiconductors, those chips at the heart of every computer and phone in the world. But that industrial adventure is long behind him and, rather than trophies chronicling his financial and technological accomplishments, the walls are covered with bookcases laden with books of history and ideas, calligraphy and contemplative prints.

At the beginning of August, the wise old follower of Zen met…