Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 48 posts

If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#1

Post by slimebot »

If China came to own Taiwan, what would it mean for our tech industry?

Is this China's master stroke? That it can be sure that the whole world will fall into line because we are reliant too heavily on Taiwan for silicon chips?

Or will Taiwan seek to destroy those factories before China can own them? Which would send the world into a crazy period, but will ensure China largely loses a significant advantage, and any victory is tainted.

Re: If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#3

Post by slimebot »

astlouis44 wrote: post #2

There would be war over it.

For sure. Yet I'm not convinced America can take that too far. So I wonder if it is willing/wanting to lose the Silicon factories, and cause a giant technological reset

China would be at a massive disadvantage if it won Taiwan and lost the chip factories. That really would be a massive cold war, then.

Re: If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#4

Post by monocasa »

> Or will Taiwan seek to destroy those factories before China can own them? Which would send the world into a crazy period, but will ensure China largely loses a significant advantage, and any victory is tainted.

Word on the street is that TSMC buildings in Taiwan are already set up to be scuttled. Explosives located in locked rooms within the facilities.

Re: If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#5

Post by devKnight »

wonder if there's a plan to evac everyone who has crucial know-how abroad, a la Operation Paperclip and its soviet counterpart. If they can move all of the machinery and people out in time( This is taking into account, that the worst has come to happen ). They could setup shop elsewhere in probably under a year.

Re: If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#6

Post by synergy20 »

Let me rephrase this:

If China takes over Taiwan, how soon can USA build a united force with Japan, Australia, South Korea, probably British, India etc to take it back, like what occurred in Kuwart?

This might set all of us back 2 decades but other options will be worse?

Re: If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#8

Post by triactual »

wrycoder wrote: post #7
astlouis44 wrote: post #2

There would be war over it.

1. If Taiwan loses, the fabs will be scuttled. 2. If China loses, they will bomb the fabs on the way out. 3.

Number three is run away profit for every other fab in the world. Like the fabs in hard-to-bomb parts of the US. I realize they are not at the level of TSMC but that’s because they have not had to get to that level. They will.

Re: If China takes over Taiwan, what happens to silicon chips?

#9

Post by GravitasFailure »

slimebot wrote: post #3
astlouis44 wrote: post #2

There would be war over it.

For sure. Yet I'm not convinced America can take that too far. So I wonder if it is willing/wanting to lose the Silicon factories, and cause a giant technological reset China would be at a massive disadvantage if it won Taiwan and lost the chip factories. That really would be a massive cold war, then.

Considering how important Taiwan's fabs are to the US it seems unlikely the US would turn a blind eye to the attack, and an escalation like that would signal further threats to Korea, Japan, and Australia.
Post reply on HN