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I’ve been told it helps protect Taiwan from prc aggression through its allies dependency on the fabrication continuing.

justicezyx 6y ago
Like the myth that China's GFW is to protect local business, this is just retrospective fairytale. TSMC succeeded because of the chip and high-quality talents on the island. It was not setup to become a high-value precious. And the logic also easily break down, if anyone bother to think about the consequence. I.e., put a high-value target in a contended geographical location, just makes the conflict more desirable for the aggressor. Sure the protector would be more concerned if the target is lost, but the value of acquiring that target suddenly becomes way more attractive, in comparison to the potential loss to the protectors.
- DSingularity 6y ago
  The value of the target is probably irrelevant. What matters is probability of success. Any Chinese will be decided by expected loses and gains. This is probably why IS continues to arm Taiwan as it is the biggest deterrent.
  - justicezyx 6y ago
    I am replying to the idea that TSMC is setup to be valuable to US, such that Taiwan get more protection.
- jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
  You are mistaken. This was a deliberate and overt tactic by the Taiwanese government. It's been heavily discussed in geopolitical circles for decades. TSMC is not something that can be "acquired" by military force. That's not how things work. If China does follow through on their threats to take the island by force, they won't be able to simply operate TSMC as if they were new management. The organization itself will cease to exist, along with all the institutional knowledge necessary to duplicate their success, even assuming China was able to secure the fab lines without damage. Likewise all customer relationships become essentially void, and the finely tuned money machine that sustains TSMC's intense R&D ceases to exist as well.
  - fma 6y ago
    Looks like the Taiwanese government forgot their tactic - because China is hiring away TSMC engineers to bolster China's chip manufacturing R&D. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-hires-over-100-TSMC-engineers-in-push-for-chip-leadership https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-hires-over...
    - jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
      The situation is much more complex than "forgot." Since the 80s KMT and several allied parties have favored eventual unification with the mainland. Try reading up on the Pan Blue Coalition, or just skimming the wiki page on Taiwanese political parties. It gets tiresome how flippant hn is to throw out these narrative based explanations that are pure invention of armchair imagination, rather than like spending literally 5 minutes to understand the very basics of what people are attempting to comment on.

Like the myth that China's GFW is to protect local business, this is just retrospective fairytale. TSMC succeeded because of the chip and high-quality talents on the island. It was not setup to become a high-value precious. And the logic also easily break down, if anyone bother to think about the consequence. I.e., put a high-value target in a contended geographical location, just makes the conflict more desirable for the aggressor. Sure the protector would be more concerned if the target is lost, but the value of acquiring that target suddenly becomes way more attractive, in comparison to the potential loss to the protectors.

DSingularity 6y ago
The value of the target is probably irrelevant. What matters is probability of success. Any Chinese will be decided by expected loses and gains. This is probably why IS continues to arm Taiwan as it is the biggest deterrent.
- justicezyx 6y ago
  I am replying to the idea that TSMC is setup to be valuable to US, such that Taiwan get more protection.
jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
You are mistaken. This was a deliberate and overt tactic by the Taiwanese government. It's been heavily discussed in geopolitical circles for decades. TSMC is not something that can be "acquired" by military force. That's not how things work. If China does follow through on their threats to take the island by force, they won't be able to simply operate TSMC as if they were new management. The organization itself will cease to exist, along with all the institutional knowledge necessary to duplicate their success, even assuming China was able to secure the fab lines without damage. Likewise all customer relationships become essentially void, and the finely tuned money machine that sustains TSMC's intense R&D ceases to exist as well.
- fma 6y ago
  Looks like the Taiwanese government forgot their tactic - because China is hiring away TSMC engineers to bolster China's chip manufacturing R&D. https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-hires-over-100-TSMC-engineers-in-push-for-chip-leadership https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-hires-over...
  - jasonwatkinspdx 6y ago
    The situation is much more complex than "forgot." Since the 80s KMT and several allied parties have favored eventual unification with the mainland. Try reading up on the Pan Blue Coalition, or just skimming the wiki page on Taiwanese political parties. It gets tiresome how flippant hn is to throw out these narrative based explanations that are pure invention of armchair imagination, rather than like spending literally 5 minutes to understand the very basics of what people are attempting to comment on.