These workers have opinions and their opinions might not be the same as yours. They might not be as pro-western as you may believe. They also have imagination and can imagine a world where they are better off under China with this equipment working then under China without this equipment working. Either way, the point is that its not a sure thing that this equipment would be scuttled.
> better off under China with this equipment working then under China without this equipment working.
This. If an enemy is invading your country and looks likely to succeed, then the important thing for you as a citizen isn't defending your homeland - it is making sure you have a future in the new country under new governance. That might well involve being the guy with all the knowledge to get the chip fab going again.
The US hasn't lost many wars in their homeland, so most citizens haven't really thought of their options...
There aren't any such guys. Running TSMC is a stack of many different levels of sole suppliers from different companies (US, Netherlands, Japan, even sort of Ukraine for neon.)
It wouldn't take any. Military action against Taiwan would lead to sanctions at a level never seen before. Without Western support in the form of raw materials, spare parts, and intellectual property, the hardware at TSMC is fit for nothing but whatever the modern equivalent of Weird Stuff Warehouse is.
I guess they could raise a few yuan by selling the DUV and EUV machines on eBay. "Removed from a working environment." That'd be about all they could do with it.
