Comment by andy_ppp
Comment by andy_ppp 5 days ago
Wow I did not know this and it is fantastic news, surprised Taiwan allowed this as they see chips as being the most important reason America would intervene if they were invaded.
Comment by andy_ppp 5 days ago
Wow I did not know this and it is fantastic news, surprised Taiwan allowed this as they see chips as being the most important reason America would intervene if they were invaded.
The US is not going to hold on to some working fab for some Taiwan-government-in-exile. As soon as you are out of power, even your allies generally take the time to plunder what they can.
In the case of invasion, the equipment within the TSMC factories will be affirmatively destroyed / sabotaged to the extent that it can't be used or studied.
I'm a China dove and I'd favor full-throated defense of Taiwan in any invasion (much more so than Ukraine) regardless of chips.
Taiwan is a long-standing well-functioning democracy and a core ally. On the other side, I also view Russia's grievances as somewhat more legitimate than China's.
not the point of my comment. war is never good, whether it is Russia invading Ukraine, China invading Taiwan, or the US invading Iraq+Afghanistan - everyone should focus on finding common ground and understanding the perspectives of others
Addressing those "grievances" hasn't worked out too well for Russia. They complained about Ukraine moving in the general direction of NATO membership, and got Sweden and Finland as actual new members of NATO. Finland has a longer Russian border than Ukraine, and Sweden has a regional navy that pretty much controls the Baltic Sea. Both countries were pretty firmly neutral before the war.
in what sense could you _possibly_ argue this
from both legal and realpolitik lenses the Taiwan issue is fully legitimate. your country has done far worse to Cuba for far less. Even setting aside the historical context and the Chinese civil war, what is illegitimate about not wanting an antagonistic and belligerent foreign power installing weapons in an island mere miles off the mainland coast?
In case of invasion, it's not that unlikely that the fabs in Taiwan get destroyed, or at least lose the ability to keep making and selling chips while the conflict is hot. In that case TSMC and Taiwan might prefer having a backup. As long as the US doesn't confiscate the Arizona fab, effectively siding with China, Taiwan would arguably have more leverage by still having something of immense strategic value to trade.