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Comment by mechagodzilla | Hacker News Reader

I don't think there is a way to take over Taiwan and preserve TSMC's manufacturing capacity there.

It cuts both ways. That's why I wrote "can entice". Nobody knows what the exact calculus is, that's why breaking status quo is so dangerous.

If they're not getting cutting edge chips from TSMC, why does that matter to them?

It sounds like you agree. Control of TSMC is out of the cards so doesn’t affect a decision or timeline to invade.

Taking out 95%+ of ledging edge semi that adds trillions to western hi tech and supports strategic industries seems worthwhile. Doesn't have to be invasion, but I'd expect grayscale shenanigans on island power grids etc now that there's less reason to hold back.

>Why does China’s near abroad matter to them? Why do they care about national unity? Why would they want unobstructed access to the deep-water Pacific?

Are questions that answer themselves. But they are the wrong questions.

It’s not China that’s the hostile actor here. It’s not China that’s meddling in distant affairs. This very thread pertains to an unilateral, unprompted hostile action by the US against China. And note that it’s not Trump’s doing. He’ll just do more of it, more openly.

And all of this is very much in line with America’s (at least) seven decades old strategic posture:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Island_chain_strategy

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