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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 1, 2024

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I reckon it would be hard to evacuate the key Taiwanese workers in time, would you leave your family behind as hostages? What kind of message does that send to the lowly infantryman if the elites are fleeing before the war begins? The machinery would be wrecked but a lot of the brainpower might fall into Chinese hands. Furthermore, Taiwan is useful for submarine bases (the Yellow Sea is quite shallow) and it controls the sea routes leading to South Korea and Japan.

I think that if it possible to perform an evacuation, it'll be done. That's leaving aside unlikely scenarios like chinese commandos storming the parliament or a container ship spilling out drones like a clown car. I expect that many Taiwanese politicians certainly hope to not have to stick around when the CCP invades, and skilled fab workers are much more valuable.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be public. Tragic, the fab caught fire, and half the employees are missing in the midst of a war, who can say who's responsible? I don't expect the US to salt the earth unless they feel compelled to, as in it's obvious China will win. Either way, the fabs won't survive.

Furthermore, Taiwan is useful for submarine bases (the Yellow Sea is quite shallow) and it controls the sea routes leading to South Korea and Japan.

That's rather minor isn't it? After all, there's a reason they're concerned about their neighbors only a few dozen kilometers away across the Formosan Strait. Knocking out Taiwan eliminates an adversary, but if China wants to mess with SK and Japan they don't need Taiwan to do so.