Hypothetical TSMC invasion ‘absolutely devastating’ says Raimondo • The Register

The US Commerce Secretary says it would be “absolutely devastating” if China were to seize the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and close the South China Sea.

“I’m not commenting on whether that’s going to happen, how it’s going to happen, or if it’s going to happen, but what I can tell you is that the United States currently buys 92 percent of its leading chips from TSMC in Taiwan . ,” the secretary testified before the House Appropriations Committee yesterday.

While the imported chips are far ahead of any semiconductors currently made in the US, TSMC plans to produce 2nm and 3nm chips in Arizona. Production of the 2nm chip was initially expected to come online in 2026, but that was changed last month to 2028, when the factory would also produce 2nm. TSMC will receive $11.6 billion in funding from the US for the three plants in Arizona.

Congressman Jake Ellzey and Raimondo agreed during Wednesday’s hearing that about a third of the world’s trade travels through the South China Sea, making it essential to defend the area, including Taiwan.

China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, but Taiwan considers itself master of its own domain. Some commentators believe that China has been watching with interest the world’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The scenario of China seizing Taiwan and TSMC has been the subject of much thought in the past. One of the most downloaded articles of 2021 from the US Army War College academic journal Parameters suggested that if the scenario became an impending reality, the US would have to commit to bombing TSMC itself.

Ellzey is not the only government official concerned about the state of the South China Sea, which is part of the Indo-Pacific region. The Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) warned on Wednesday that the Pentagon is currently showing an “alarming lack of urgency” regarding the vulnerability of US military bases in the Indo-Pacific.

According to the committee, “an unclassified analysis suggests that China has enough weapons to overwhelm (U.S.) air and missile defenses protecting these bases” and that attacks could “immobilize vital air forces, disrupt logistics chains and impair (U.S.) ability to response significantly weaken.” conflict.”

In her testimony, Raimondo shifted national security concerns from such physical structures to the instruments of war of the digital age.

“When you think of national security, you might think of guns, tanks, missiles, fighter jets. I think about semiconductors, quantum and AI models,” Raimondo said.

“What we do at the Department of Commerce is continually studying these dual-use technologies to find out what we have, where China is, and to make sure that China doesn’t have access to our technology for their military,” she added to. ®