ASML Holding and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. have ways to disable the world’s most advanced chip-making machines in the event that China invades Taiwan, according to people familair with the matter.
The US Army War College published a paper outlining the plan awhile back.
To start, the United States and Taiwan should lay plans for a targeted scorched-earth strategy that would render Taiwan not just unattractive if ever seized by force, but positively costly to maintain. This could be done most effectively by threatening to destroy facilities belonging to the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the most important chipmaker in the world and China’s most important supplier.
Of course not. There’s glory, there’s internal CCP politics, pooh bear’s ego, claims over the South China Sea, reducing the US sphere of influence, the fulfilled narrative of a “united China”, etc.
China doesn’t stand to gain anything pragmatic by invading Taiwan. However humans, and dictators in particular, do not always act perfectly rationally and in the best interest of their nation.
Just disable?
I’ve heard for years now that they have those chip fabs rigged to explode, as to not let them fall into China’s hands.
First day of job training is to keep the one machine running that keeps the place from exploding.
The US Army War College published a paper outlining the plan awhile back.
If they attack Taiwan and let the chip factories burn. Does that mean they only cared about getting the land?
Of course not. There’s glory, there’s internal CCP politics, pooh bear’s ego, claims over the South China Sea, reducing the US sphere of influence, the fulfilled narrative of a “united China”, etc.
China doesn’t stand to gain anything pragmatic by invading Taiwan. However humans, and dictators in particular, do not always act perfectly rationally and in the best interest of their nation.
Taiwan presents the same kind of military threat to China as Cuba presented to the US during the Cold War.
It’s an excellent staging ground for bombing and the mountainous terrain to the west guards it from effective retaliation.
Even without a big chip factory, it presents an existential threat to the mainland only really matched by Korea or the Philippines.