Economist says China must seize TSMC if the US tightens sanctions:
The importance of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, better known as TSMC, to the global economy cannot be understated. The world's largest chip manufacturer has a 54% share of the global chip market, which makes an economist's call for China to seize TSMC if the US imposes harsh sanctions on the country all the more concerning.
Bloomberg reports that Chen Wenling, chief economist at the government-run China Center for International Economic Exchanges, said, "If the US and the West impose destructive sanctions on China like sanctions against Russia, we must recover Taiwan."
Chen singled out TSMC in the speech at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University last month. "Especially in the reconstruction of the industrial chain and supply chain, we must seize TSMC," she added.
TSMC is reportedly set to build six chip fabs in the US, though it has announced just one so far. "They [TSMC] are speeding up the transfer to the US to build six factories there," Chen said. "We must not let all the goals of the transfer be achieved."
Chen does talk about the scenario only taking place if the US hit China with Russia-like sanctions, which were put in place after it invaded Ukraine. Taiwan has long said it is an independent nation, while China insists it is part of its territory and has no qualms about using force to bring it under control.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Opportunist on Thursday June 09 2022, @03:36PM (6 children)
Actually, it should say "Chinese spindoctor says what Chinese government wants to broadcast".
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Thursday June 09 2022, @05:46PM (2 children)
It's weird they're putting so much analysis into what is obviously a very simple direct threat.
China says "If you sanction use we're gonna take Taiwan." The End
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @06:46PM (1 child)
If you sanction us we're going to try to take Taiwan.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @07:13PM
Which would justify more sanctions. The circle of life.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @05:46PM (1 child)
If this is "tentative, plausibly-deniable, testing of the waters by the Chinese government," that that makes this MORE significant news, not less.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @06:48PM
If they're testing the waters I hope their soldiers can swim.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday June 10 2022, @06:39AM
There's something strangely poetic in all these "independent" pronouncements when it's clear that the entire world knows that they're being told exactly what to say by the Chinese government...they know it's a lie, we know it's a lie, they know we know it's a lie, yet they do it anyway.
Hail Eris
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Snort on Thursday June 09 2022, @04:30PM (3 children)
The US is frozen with old and weak leadership in both parties. Distracted by war in Russia and elsewhere.
There is little to be done if China was determined to do it. Sanctions would hurt for a while.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @04:52PM
What makes him (or anyone) think Taiwan won't blow the TSMC plants to little pieces if China tries to invade and seize them?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Hartree on Thursday June 09 2022, @08:52PM
Shamelessly paraphrasing you:
"The US is frozen with old and weak leadership in both parties. Distracted by war in Syria, the Horn of Africa and worry over China and Taiwan.
There is little to be done if Russia was determined to invade Ukraine. Sanctions would hurt for a while."
This was the disastrous logic Putin et al followed. Perhaps what you say of China is true, but wars rarely go the way those who start them intend.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday June 10 2022, @02:14AM
Stop exporting food to China (which gets about 40% of its food from the U.S.)
Stop importing Chinese junk (somewhere around half of China's export market).
China is quickly rendered impotent.
Whether we'd have the balls to do this, tho, that's a valid question, and I'm afraid the present answer is no.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hendrikboom on Thursday June 09 2022, @04:34PM (5 children)
It sounds like a reason for China not to invade Taiwan so as not to be gored by sanctions like the ones on Russia. And sanctions will hit a lot more than semiconductors.
Also sounds like a reason for the USA not to impose extreme sanctions on China. (which is likely the implied threat).
Anyway, TSMC having fabs in the USA doesn't mean they're going to shut down the ones in Taiwan or elsewhere. Supplying customers near Taiwan from fabs in Taiwan just makes sense.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @06:58PM (2 children)
Seems like sanctions are just words that carry positive consequences not negative ones now a days.
China must be looking at Russia and thinking, sanctions are helping to build markets where there were none before...so let's dance!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @07:15PM
More like China is checking to see if threatening Taiwan will let them get away with annexing Siberia.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday June 09 2022, @11:26PM
Only if you completely ignore what's happening to Russia. Sanctions are limited in effect, but they do hurt.
(Score: 2) by corey on Thursday June 09 2022, @11:40PM (1 child)
TSMC just needs to put self destructing devices in all the fab equipment. Little explosives say. And in their IT equipment holding designs and manuals.
Then when the guys roll in with red flags on their shoulders, run for it and press the red button. Then the value of the fab is just the land it’s sitting on.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10 2022, @11:36AM
The self destruct is built in. It's called the supply chain.
Making chips is a multinational cooperative effort. They might manage to put the world in chip timeout for a little while, but that doesn't mean that TSMC would continue to be able to make parts in China for a much longer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 09 2022, @10:54PM
The walk to the gas station is for your own good.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday June 09 2022, @11:02PM (4 children)
...how about you just *stop* being dicks about Taiwan?
I've never really understood why the mainland is so obsessed with Taiwan. It's one dinky little island that has 1.7% of your population. You won the war 70 years ago and got 99.9% of the territory.
But still it's like some complex where they can't just let it go, because they're afraid somebody would point out their cock is only 10.5 inches long instead of 11 or something.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday June 10 2022, @02:16AM
Mostly because the CCP can't take No for an answer. As you say, it's mostly about their perception of their own dick.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10 2022, @04:03AM (2 children)
Why would you let go of 1.7% (and much more economically) for no reason? Also once they let it go it'll be Tibet, and once they let that go too it'll be the whole country.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday June 10 2022, @06:36AM (1 child)
This is like that whole RIAA nonsense about "losing 10x what we made in a year to piracy"--you can't lose something you never had. (And it wouldn't be "for nothing"; it would be demonstrating willingness to be reasonable internationally. But that's not pragmatically worth anything.)
I suppose their leadership is maybe still terrified that what happened back in the Qing dynasty will happen again, i.e. a bunch of foreign powers come in and walk all over them. Although that seems pretty damn unlikely at this point.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday June 10 2022, @06:45AM
Oh, they actually *did* control Taiwan at one point? I thought that the ROC had basically taken the island away from the native non-Chinese inhabitants. Huh.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10 2022, @12:18AM (1 child)
Get nukes. You are already diplomatically isolated, there is no fuck you should give.
It's no guarantee of security, but it will guarantee that CCP China will pay if they decide to invade.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 10 2022, @05:26PM
Even if the first 5 don't succeed, Winnie the Pooh isn't going to have as pleasant a life for as long as the other 900+ assassins are out there. An assassination attempt every other time he pops his head out = high stress = shorter lifespan = some sort of revenge even if you don't manage to kill him directly.
If the 1000 assassins are well trained, patient and careful I think at least one of them is going to eventually succeed.