Elbridge Colby, the nominee for U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, is known to favor destroying Taiwan’s chip factories in the event of a Chinese invasion. Just last year, Colby publicly declared that it was imperative to “destroy TSMC” if an aggressive China tried to seize these facilities. Report Data center updates. also, Safety Policy professionals assert that the Taiwanese government or military should not be responsible for TSMC’s destruction.
Colby’s unique take on scorched-earth strategy is called “nest-off” deterrence, a term coined by a 2021 paper at the U.S. Army Academy. Broken Nest: Stopping China from Invading TaiwanAlthough it is 15 pages long, the deterrent power can be immediately understood from the title. A key thread throughout the paper is that as Taiwan’s semiconductor capabilities have grown (mainly through TSMC’s chip manufacturing capabilities), China has begun to find Taiwan increasingly attractive.
If the semiconductor business was not taken into account, would the Communist Party of China (Mainland China, People’s Republic of China) care so much about the relatively minor earthquake- and typhoon-prone island of Taiwan (Republic of China)? The linked paper does not think so, and Colby echoes the paper’s central idea several times. Therefore, in the minds of some policymakers, it is extremely important to make it clear that TSMC would be damaged in the event of Chinese invasion.
“If China takes over Taiwan, disabling or destroying TSMC is table stakes,” Colby wrote on Twitter/X earlier this year. “Are we crazy enough to allow the world’s major semiconductor companies to fall intact into the hands of an aggressive China? “
If China takes over Taiwan, disabling or destroying TSMC is a bet. Are we crazy enough to let the world’s major semiconductor companies fall intact into the hands of an aggressive China? Taiwanese should realize that this is only the “least important” problem they face. https://t.co/Z8qmKxjWe9February 24, 2024
However, destroying TSMC and other advanced semiconductor facilities may not be easy. China will likely do its best to protect these sites from broader aggression. And, in 2023, we learned that Taiwan’s Defense Minister General Qiu Guozheng Will not tolerate any attempt by the United States to destroy TSMC If there is a war with China. If the United States and China are playing a high-stakes “game of nerves,” Taiwan will not (or does not) participate.
Colby, who was appointed by Trump over the weekend as undersecretary of defense for policy, has some other views that could cause a stir in the Taiwan Strait. A report published by the agency Taiwan News This week he said he would support a push for Taiwan to increase defense spending from 2.5 percent of GDP to 5 percent. Interestingly, he also recently suggested that the United States should prioritize arming Taiwan over Ukraine. He believes that Europe should do more for its neighbors.