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Isn’t this an erosion of the silicon shield Taiwan is protected by? If they make semiconductors everywhere else then the world has less economic incentive to pr
by SilverElfin 9mo ago
Isn’t this an erosion of the silicon shield Taiwan is protected by? If they make semiconductors everywhere else then the world has less economic incentive to protect Taiwan from war.
- trvz 9mo agoNo. To get to Taiwan, Mainland Taiwan first has to go through China, the ocean, and Taiwan. They’ll be fine without anyone else’s help.
- stingraycharles 9mo agoYes, it is. The unfortunate reality is that western societies care more about TSMC than Taiwan, and they’re hedging their bets this way.
- david2ndaccount 9mo agoThe world won’t allow a dependence on a single geopolitically threatened entity in the long run, so either they defuse that risk themselves or risk a competitor filling that role. This move is better for TSMC itself.
- 3eb7988a1663 9mo agoWho would protect Taiwan anymore? I have my doubts that any prior defense agreement would be upheld today.
- adastra22 9mo agoWhat defense agreements?
- porridgeraisin 9mo agoAmerica doesn't defend taiwan for its semiconductors - it's all american IP anyways. They defend it for the same reason they defend japan and Phillipines - to control the pacific "frontier" these three countries form before guam. Typically against China, but they would do the same nonetheless.
- dd_xplore 9mo agoBut why should the world depend on a single country or entity? Everything should be diversified.
- raincole 9mo agoYes. But it will happen one way or another. Taiwan's Sovereignty is completely depending on one single country, the US. It's not like that Taiwan can just say no if the US demands more diversified chip production.
- tzahifadida 9mo agoDisagree. Making the world less centralized to TSMC chips makes less incentive to invade at the near future. There is no strategic upside to do it right now. If nothing else, to me it seems china is a strategic mover, and will not sacrifice anything for no strategic value.
- bschwindHN 9mo agoChina doesn't want to invade Taiwan for TSMC.
- Waterluvian 9mo agoThat’s a deeply oversimplified understanding of Taiwan and reunification. There’s so much good reading on the topic out there and it’s really worth even just skimming the surface of it.
- brutalc 9mo ago[dead]
- diego_sandoval 9mo agoIf TSMC didn't exist, China would probably have already invaded Taiwan.
- coffinbirth 9mo ago[flagged]
- AlexCoventry 9mo agoThe weapons are sent on the basis that more expensive the PRC anticipates an invasion of of Taiwan to be, the less likely it is to invade.
- avhception 9mo agoThe US has done a lot of unsavory things. But this comment is just disingenuous. For example, discounting Ukraines unwillingness to simply accept foreign rule by the country that brought them Holodomor as purely based on American propaganda and arms sales is either delusional or Russian propaganda.
- coffinbirth 9mo agoThen please explain why Victoria Nuland was giving out cookies in Maidan Square in 2014? #NoForeignInterference
- AlexCoventry 9mo agoSeems likely that Takaichi has given Taiwan a Japanese security guarantee. [1] This may be a quid pro quo. [1] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p-4nFgs9fRE https://www.youtube.com/shorts/p-4nFgs9fRE
- topsykrates 9mo agoDespite what Takaichi says, if there is a war in Taiwan, Japan can only defend itself and it's interests in its sovereign territory. Japan's pacifist constitution only allows defense, even building an aircraft carrier was very controversial because it's considered to be too offensive. It's highly unlikely that Japan will actively help Taiwan defend itself
- mullingitover 9mo agoMy guess: Japan deletes the pacifist promises in its constitution, fully rearms, announces nuclear weapons capability (or does an Israel and ‘refuses to confirm or deny’), and signs a mutual defense pact with Taiwan.
- raincole 9mo agoShe didn't give a security guarantee. And even if she wanted she can't. Japan can't even sell arms to Taiwan right now. Even starting selling arms would be a huge change, let alone a mutual defensive pact. It's extremely hard to change the constitution of Japan. It's the only constitution that has never been revised since WWII. LDP has been pushing this agenda for decades and nothing really happened.
- deleted 9mo ago[deleted]
- typ 9mo agoThe silicon shield became a slogan that has only been popularized in recent years. The potential crisis of war has been there for more than half a century (even before semiconductors became a thing). The real value proposition of the status quo is the freedom of navigation between the northeastern Asian countries and the SEA (the Strait of Malacca, aka the lifeline of energy imports), and the consequential domino effect of the entire western Pacific. Also, not sure why everyone forgets about it. People should have learned from the experience of the pandemic that the cutting-edge foundry nodes are not really the crucial ones, as being the bottleneck of industrial infrastructure. A delay of the next-gen iPhone or RTX gaming card isn't that catastrophic. But a shortage of embedded MCUs, which are actually fabricated by mature nodes, could stall the entire industrial base of a country.