The prospect of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is a nightmare scenario that is keeping Western intelligence agencies up at night with growing fears. that this could happen in 2027.
Since the US is legally obligated to defend Taiwan, the potential consequences could be catastrophic, leading to war between the world's two largest superpowers. But among the less extreme scenarios that have been modeled, one of them is what would happen if China got its hands on TSMC's chip manufacturing capabilities.
Growing fear of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan
As if an invasion Russia's attack on Ukraine was not enough of a problem for world leaders; the additional problem was that this action could embolden China’ 8217;ambition to invade Taiwan.
Putin has just demonstrated that the West cannot take any military action to defend Ukraine; the threat of all-out nuclear war is too frightening. All our armed forces can do is sit back and watch, hoping that economic sanctions and military support will ultimately prove effective.
The same can be said about Taiwan. Yes, the US is theoretically willing to help Taiwan defend itself from invasion, but there is what some call “strategic ambiguity” in the law's wording. Since there would be exactly the same risk of escalating nuclear war with China as with Russia, the prospect of the US taking very little action in practice always seemed likely.
And right now China has some pretty good evidence invasion of Ukraine, that Western military intervention would be unlikely if it did the same in Taiwan.
US and UK security services later gave an “unprecedented warning” that this was a real possibility. These concerns intensified as China effectively rehearsed a military blockade of the island (a likely first step toward an invasion) and as China announced plans to reach new military heights by 2027, the 100th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Beijing may want to be prepared to invade Taiwan by this year.
Plans for remote destruction of TSMC chip production machines
While China gains access to TSMC's advanced chip manufacturing capabilities may seem rather insignificant compared to the threat of World War III, Bloomberg reports that there are defense concerns.
[TSMC's factories can] print the smallest microchip transistors in existence, creating chips that can be used in artificial intelligence as well as more sensitive military applications.
For this reason, TMSC and its Dutch chip machine supplier ASML have developed joint plans to remotely disable machines in the event of an intrusion.
ASML assured officials of its ability to shut down machines remotely when the Dutch government met with the company about the threat, two others said. The Netherlands carried out simulations of a possible invasion to better assess the risks, they added […]
TSMC Chairman Mark Liu [previously] hinted in a September interview with CNN that any invader of Taiwan would find his company's vehicles chip production facilities are out of order.
“No one can control TSMC by force,” Liu said. “In the event of a military invasion, you will put the TSMC plant out of action.”
Since 100% of Apple's A-series and M-series chips are made by TSMC, contingency plans emphasize the importance of building U.S. factories with more advanced capabilities.
Photo: soldier of the People's Liberation Army, author Mil.ru/CC4.0
