That is putting it too mildly. China want to invade and destroy a 70 year old democracy and place it under its control because China believes the island of Taiwan belongs to China.
2 Likes
They don’t want to destroy anything. If that was the case, China would have done it already. IMO, they are hoping for a situation more like Hong Kong, where they are handed to keys to the kingdom. They want TMSC and every other productive business. Less damage means more assets.
1 Like
Of course they do.
They want to destroy the ROC’s independence, freedom, and elected government just as they did Hong Kong’s. The troops will arrive, the tanks will roll, and the world will watch the free people of the ROC be rolled over by a vastly more powerful PRC just as we saw in Hong Kong.
China hasn’t done it before now because they were concerned about the likely retaliation by the Western governments (mostly the US). I believe they are no longer concerned about that because they own the West. They’ve paid for it, they own it. There will be no response beyond faint outrage.
More than likely very few Americans recall the Quemoy & Matsu Crisis of 1958, when the PRC began an artillery assault of Taiwan’s outlying islands–Quemoy and Matsu–in obvious preparation for an amphibious assault/invasion/takeover. President Eisenhower greatly reinforced the ROC’s military, and also sent significant US naval and air forces to Taiwan.
The crisis ended a few months later, but only because the PRC ran out of artillery shells. Many decades of the strengthening of their industrial might means that–unfortunately–they are unlikely to run out of any ordnance nowadays. As a result of that reality, plus their immense standing army, it is doubtful that any nation wants to go against them militarily at this point.
Our only practical option consists of economic sanctions, and a coordinated US/G-7 effort appears to be in the works:
2 Likes
I do. We’ve lost our technological edge. We’ve given away too much. There are many products crucial to the defense system that we no longer know how to make and will take us years if not decades to acquire those skills again.
3 Likes
Tesla have any chip issues? Are they building a car plant in China or a battery factory? Or both? Musk is SA so they have a peculiar sort of mindset.
Societe Anonyme?
Salvation Army?
South American?
Believe it or not, he is hosting SNL on May 8th. I have never found him to be funny, but I guess that the folks who produce that show think differently than I do.
I guess we can assume that there won’t be any skits about Tesla accidents or conflagrations. 
1 Like
Perfect for the current SNL, it isn’t funny either! 
2 Likes
We are talking about different things. I’m talking about physical things, you are talking about societal norms.
1 Like
What is important to make here and what isn’t? That isn’t an easily answered question. It’s also important to have trade dealings with other countries to make it more likely that they will want to work political or societal problems out when they arise. Since large systems involving people aren’t totally efficient, they have to be adjusted from time to time. Intel had goals a number of years ago, and they spent their money to meet them. Now, their goals have changed. I’m not commenting on what their goals were or are, simply stating that they had them.
Unlike Ford, it appears that GM’s bottom line won’t be hurt by the chip shortage:
I’ve been working as an engineer for well over 40 years. And that use to be my philosophy for years and years. The problem is it’s never worked. We have these trade agreements that everyone agrees with and yet never adhere to. I’ve seen it time and time again with many difference countries. We’ve lost (actually given away) technology. And each time we got screwed.
3 Likes
I can second Mike’s experiences.
Tbe division of GM I used to work for was sold to the Chinese for 10 cents on the dollar with a patent protected product portfolio that GM’s money helped develop.
1 Like
Of course then there is outright theft of technology, but yeah I agree with Mike and Mustangman.
1 Like
I work in an industry where we are prevented by law from telling any non-USA colleagues how to do anything, yet they figure it out anyway. I get around it by creating standards that, after enactment, tell my international suppliers that can pay about $50 how to do things that help me accomplish my goals. I’m not willing to face fine or imprisonment for helping the projects I work on. I think we get farther collaborating and that promotes less friction in other areas. I’ve been tired of ITAR and EAR for a long time, but there aren’t many ways around them. I told you mine already.
Most of the theft is because our companies allowed it.
They put themselves in a position for it to happen by shipping manufacturing to countries that have very very lax laws on techno-theft. If a company does happen to steal the technology…good luck taking them to court.
A little more info on the US chip shortage:
1 Like
Fabs in Arizona will be online in 2023. Good. The fact that it is in process is good. Vs doing nothing. Washington should look at US companies pattern of buying chips from Asia. I knows it’s cheaper. And the US govt just blindly goes along with it.
Over 20 years ago I took a tour of the Fab plant in Marlborough MA that built the Dec Alpha chip. At the time it was the fastest chip on the market. Fascinating tour. it was state of the art back then. The plant was sold to Intel as part of the lawsuit settlement DEC won on patent violations from Intel. Intel closed the plant about 5 years ago.
Because we depend on Taiwan to such a great extent for microchips, and because Taiwan is currently suffering from an upsurge in Covid cases, it appears that rushing vaccines to Taiwan is one of the only ways to lessen the chip shortage in the short term.
1 Like