This is not the first time that US politicians have suggested bombing TSMC. In 2019, former Vice President Joe Biden had mentioned that the US would have to come up with new ways to counter China's cyber attacks and intellectual property theft, including striking at Chinese companies like TSMC. Republican Senator Tom Cotton also touched on the topic earlier in May this year when he stated that America's military response should include targeting Chinese critical infrastructure such as TSMC and Huawei.
Comment:
The hidden text above reads: 'Flournoy: Don't bomb Taiwan. This will cause $2 trillion in damage to the global economy.'
Moulton later clarified his stance, saying that it is not the best strategy but only an example.
Comment: Imagine the hysterical responses from US politicians if China spoke of such provocations in such a carefree manner.
Nevertheless, his comment could bring Taiwan's technology industry, particularly TSMC, into focus in the escalating tensions between the US and China over the issue of Taiwan. TSMC, a crucial supplier to US firms such as Apple and Qualcomm, has seen its stock fall repeatedly this week following his comment.
Experts have pointed out that bombing TSMC would not only anger China but also cause significant harm to Taiwan's economy.
Comment: Such lack of foresight is the hallmark of belligerent American foreign policy; it's little wonder that (sovereign) nations across the globe are pivoting East. And Taiwan's population can't too enamoured with saviours such as these.
TSMC accounts for nearly half of the world's chip production and is a critical part of Taiwan's technology industry. The threats against it have highlighted how Taiwan, which relies heavily on the US for support, can be caught in the middle of tensions between the superpowers.
Comment: China would have no need to 'invade' Taiwan - known officially as the Republic of China - if the US weren't intent on provoking it into a conflict that it has no choice but to respond to, in the same way it has done with Russia in Ukraine.
Further, remember when a number of US representatives casually discussed 'stopping' Nord Stream II, which was then bombed in a terrorist attack? The following potentially suspect incidents occurred on April 24th: Fires at Taiwan's counter-hacking unit, construction site of semi-conductor factory