Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

reddit-MT t1_iu0006u wrote

Reply to comment by vhu9644 in TSMC says efforts to rebuild US semiconductor industry are doomed to fail by 0wed12

As much as China wants to take Taiwan, it's hard to believe that they wouldn't rather have Taiwan with the chip industry intact. I just see the advanced chip industry as being more strategically important than the island. Right now, they can plausibly blockade the island where they can't blockade Texas. If the diminished Taiwanese semiconductor narrative were correct, they would much rather a new chip fab be opened in an adjacent country they have influence over, than in the US. If anything, it's a silver lining. A consolation prize for losing influence of the semiconductor industry versus a goal or a win.

1

vhu9644 t1_iu08ox5 wrote

I think the more strategic importance is cementing internal legitimacy (domestic stability) while ensuring open sea access. They don’t care about blockading taiwan. They care about Taiwan blockading they (with our blessing)

SMIC sucks, but they don’t suck that bad. IIRC they’re like 1-3 generations behind, but again, not capitalist so yield matters a bit less. ASML not selling EUV to them is a big setback, but only time will tell if it is an insurmountable one.

0