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Comment by cyphertruck | Hacker News Reader

This is like an old fashioned Civilization game trade. Taiwan gets a significant ownership in a blue chip US company, TSMC should then take %51 control over intel, and turn it around. The US gets a stronger position with China such that china attacking Taiwan would be like bombing Apple or Google. The USA will go to war over that.

Only the willingness to go to war, stops aggressors. War is terrible and economic competition is the path to peace, but if you can't defend yourself you will get destroyed.

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Only the willingness to go to war, stops aggressors.

I'm pretty sure that's why China is saber-rattling so openly. I don't endorse the CCP's arguments for Taiwan being part of China (which rest on a very flimsy historical foundation and are mostly tied to the ROC government fleeing there), but I fully understand their dislike of being militarily encircled by the US. Other Asian nations appreciate the status quo under a Pax Americana, but have made it clear that they are less than enthusiastic about participation alongside the US in any military conflict centered on Taiwan.

> The US gets a stronger position with China such that china attacking Taiwan would be like bombing Apple or Google. The USA will go to war over that.

If TSMC has effectively transferred their technology to Intel, doesn't this remove a reason for the US to defend Taiwan?

having the tech doesn't build the actual fabs, and a two or three year halt in production or a transfer of that production from Taiwan to China while the US builds up its own production would be devastating for the US.

The US has been defending Taiwan since before integrated circuits were invented. Supporting an ally and a democracy in a critical location is the only reason that matters.

That doesn’t matter much to this administration, but it’s not like they’re going to care about TSMC either.

You are so naive to think that US actually cares about democracy. Do you ever wonder why they invaded Iraq two times, but never really bothered to invade Cuba, which is in their backyard? Because Cuba has nothing of value, no natural resources, no valuable technologies. So the US tolerates communist regime in Cuba, because there's no money in invading it.

I will disregard "Bay of Pigs Invasion", since that wasn't really US military operation, but some small scale, CIA orchestrated coup.

"Actually caring about democracy" isn't the same as liberal hegemony, where countries go to war to spread democracy.

The US has a good reason to invade Cuba: it's tightly linked to the US's largest enemy. Which is the same reason it doesn't invade (overtly).

> Taiwan gets a significant ownership in a blue chip US company

Blue chip, Intel is not:

> "[...] known for its stability, consistent earnings, sound financials, and long-standing reputation." [0]

[0] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/bluechip.asp

15 years ago Intel was a bluechip company. Today it is circling the drain.

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