TSMC warns China-Taiwan war would devastate global chip supply

The head of Taiwanese tech giant and major Apple supplier Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) warned an invasion of the island would render his factory “not operable” as tensions rise ahead of a potential visit by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who was re-elected in 2020 with 281,776 votes to represent U.S. House California District 12 which is located entirely within San Francisco, encompassing most of the northern California city.

Agence France-Presse:

Beijing, which considers self-ruled Taiwan its territory — to be seized one day, by force if necessary — said it would regard a Pelosi visit as a major provocation.
Beijing’s sabre-rattling has increased in recent years, and the possibility of an invasion has intensified under Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In a rare interview with CNN that aired Monday, TSMC chairman Mark Liu warned “nobody can control TSMC by force… If you take a military force or invasion, you will render TSMC factory not operable… These are such sophisticated manufacturing facilities. It depends on the real-time connection with the outside world, with Europe, with Japan, with the US.”
The Taiwanese firm dominates more than half of the global semiconductor market, with clients including Apple.

MacDailyNews Note: For the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Michael J. Green and Bonnie S. Glaser, explain the United States’ “One China” policy:
When the United States moved to recognize the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and de-recognize the Republic of China (ROC) in 1979, the United States stated that the government of the People’s Republic of China was “the sole legal Government of China.” Sole, meaning the PRC was and is the only China, with no consideration of the ROC as a separate sovereign entity.
The United States did not, however, give in to Chinese demands that it recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan (which is the name preferred by the United States since it opted to de-recognize the ROC). Instead, Washington acknowledged the Chinese position that Taiwan was part of China. For geopolitical reasons, both the United States and the PRC were willing to go forward with diplomatic recognition despite their differences on this matter. When China attempted to change the Chinese text from the original acknowledge to recognize, Deputy Secretary of State Warren Christopher told a Senate hearing questioner, “[W]e regard the English text as being the binding text. We regard the word ‘acknowledge’ as being the word that is determinative for the U.S.” In the August 17, 1982, U.S.-China Communique, the United States went one step further, stating that it had no intention of pursuing a policy of “two Chinas” or “one China, one Taiwan.”
To this day, the U.S. “one China” position stands: the United States recognizes the PRC as the sole legal government of China but only acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China. Thus, the United States maintains formal relations with the PRC and has unofficial relations with Taiwan. The “one China” policy has subsequently been reaffirmed by every new incoming U.S. administration. The existence of this understanding has enabled the preservation of stability in the Taiwan Strait, allowing both Taiwan and mainland China to pursue their extraordinary political and socioeconomic transitions in relative peace.
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