It’s not like putting TSMC fabs in Japan is making things any safer. A China that makes a military move on Taiwan is going to feel emboldened to right more perceived historical wrongs.
The US needs fabs on-shore.
The US needs fabs on-shore.
Intel, GlobalFoundries, TSMC and Samsung all have fabs in the US.
TSMC have a fab at WA and building one in AZ.
Samsung have a fab at TX
US have plenty
"Counterintuitively, the famously thirsty industry can even improve the local water supply due to a focus on reclamation and purification—Intel has funded 15 water restoration projects in the Grand Canyon State with a goal of restoring 937 million gallons per year, and it expects to reach net positive water use once the projects are completed."
"What Arizona lacks in water, it makes up for with overall stability—the state is very seismically stable and does not suffer from hurricanes, with low risks of other natural disasters such as tornadoes to boot. Building chip fabs without such guarantees is possible—for example, Intel has a large presence in Oregon—but chip fabricators on the West Coast must take extreme isolation measures, which Arizona plants don't require."
But if I were in charge, I'd try to put some fabs as close to the Northeast megalopolis as possible while still being cheap. So probably like... Pennsylvania? Upstate NY? Hell, why not Maine? Better weather in the NE (which isn't much of a statement, Arizona is barely human habitable) and it might be interesting to experiment with some alternative tech culture to Silicon Valley's (more down to Earth, IMO).
Think about it. They’re building a massive plant. This is a basic input factor. What model of the world reconciles the idea that these guys are very good at making semiconductors for decades but unable to model changes in the input factors over that period? Does that model sound like the highest probability model to explain their behavior?
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/why-do-chip-makers-k...
"Counterintuitively, the famously thirsty industry can even improve the local water supply due to a focus on reclamation and purification—Intel has funded 15 water restoration projects in the Grand Canyon State with a goal of restoring 937 million gallons per year, and it expects to reach net positive water use once the projects are completed."
reclaim the water is the key
Exactly! Fabs use lots of hazardous chemicals, it's not like they can just dump the water contaminated with these into the next river. And if they clean it, why not clean it a little more and reuse it?
The major reason for them being in AZ is constant(ish) weather, cheap land, workforce, and cheap power.
It will be abrupt and bloody. The ROC knows these strategies, the only way it will fall is by force and hopefully the US and other sovereign countries stand up and help against that when the day comes.
It seems that the CCPs plan is to whittle away support from all of the ROC's allies first, then crush them.
Genuine question, what do you think that help would look like? Because every time I try and game out scenarios for China re-absorbing Taiwan by force I come to the conclusion it would essentially be an unwinnable 'war' by western nations and likely a further erosion of the United State's position as the global military superpower (on the back of the Afghan pullout). China can afford to play the long, slow game when it comes to their proximity and civilian toll in/around Taiwan, much of the West can not.
Second, I would assume heavy heavy sanctions, no western nation to deal with China at all. Military force if foreign troops stationed in Taiwan were injured or killed.
The West can play the slow game with Taiwan because it's solely the CCP's problem and the current status quo is what the West wants.
The Land Reform, The Great Leap Forward, Tiananmen Square Massacre, Hong Kong.
The persecution and genocide of Uyghurs / Tibetans / Falun Gong.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/ccp-at-100-years-a-century-of-...
But please, continue to shill for the murderous authoritarian regime with your whataboutism.
But please, continue to shill for the murderous American regime with your whataboutism.
> Primarily to serve Sony and other Japanese clients.
In various other locations in the world, too, but also in Japan.
edit: I think I may be missing your point.
Guess its my job to remind someone that the Earth is round. ;-)
Go to Japan on your favourite map website, zoom out, and take a look to the right.