I think you have it backwards. We found taiwan to be geopolitically valuable so we helped them "lead chip fab". We have to keep taiwan, korea, japan, etc happy

I think you have it backwards. We found taiwan to be geopolitically valuable so we helped them "lead chip fab". We have to keep taiwan, korea, japan, etc happy to keep them from aligning with china. Like we have to keep germany/ukraine/etc happy to keep them from aligning with russia. Of course these countries want to keep the US, China, Russia, etc "interested" to give them more goodies - tech/markets/access/etc. The more suitors, the greater the competition, the more plentiful the gifts. Vietnam is doing this right now with china and the US and getting investment/political favors/market access/etc from both.