A former National Security Advisor for the Trump administration says the U.S. would destroy TSMC’s fabs if China were to invade Taiwan.
As crazy as it sounds, the U.S. would physically destroy TSMC and its fabrication facilities if China invades Taiwan just to keep the foundry out of China’s hands. This comes from Robert O’Brien, former National Security Advisor for the Trump administration. TSMC is the world’s largest foundry and Apple is its largest customer making up 25% of its revenue.
While O’Brien didn’t actually say that the U.S. would blow up TSMC’s facilities, he more than hinted at it in a response to a comment made by a reporter for Semafor.
When asked by the reporter if TSMC’s chip production facilities would really be destroyed in the wake of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, O’Brien said, „I can’t imagine they’d be intact.“ There could be some plan in place to prevent China from taking control of TSMC should China act to invade Taiwan. Officials in Taiwan believe that even if China were to take control of TSMC in an invasion, it would not be able to operate the facilities.
Chen Ming-tong, director-general of Taiwan’s National Security Bureau, said last October, „Even if China got a hold of the golden hen, it won’t be able to lay golden eggs.
