No, Ukraine is a different commitment than Taiwan even though the broad-stroke aggression is widely similar. The imperative to defend Taiwan is a half-century old commitment; breaking it would mean forfeiting the first island chain, repealing the Taiwan Relations Act and rethinking the entirety of our modern anti-China warfare strategy. Republicans do not want to break this; they are simply butthurt about the economics of defending Taiwan and want Taiwan to pay for it like they tried footing the bill for the Mexico wall to Mexico. Unfortunately, Taiwan already legally owns all of their American military equipment and the US quite literally cannot take it away from them except by force.
Ukraine is not even remotely similar. It's strategic value is entirely symbolic to the US, and while defending them is a morally righteous cause, the importance of this battle to American homeland security is effectively nothing. If Russia launches a new front in Ukraine, the president's morning brief gets a new paragraph at the bottom. If China threatens Taiwan, America borders on national emergency. It's really that simple - I'm shocked that HN is so willingly duped into being a mouthpiece for sensationalist politics.
If China takes TSMC, then make no mistake; the United States will carpet bomb every facility and ASML's policy towards China will not budge. There are no contingency situations in which China steals TSMC's tech; it's something that Taiwan and the United States simply refuse to let happen. The running "joke" in the industry is that TSMC's foundries are rigged with explosives wired to a red button on the US president's desk. The real-world situation isn't that far off.
America would fall behind in this scenario, but ASML will still exist and advanced lithography can continue independent of Taiwan. TSMC is a big part of the puzzle, but the importance of the first island chain is 10x more important than anything TSMC owns.
The imperative to defend Taiwan is a half-century old commitment; breaking it would mean repealing the Taiwan Relations Act
How so? The TRA does not compel the U.S. to "defend" Taiwan in the event of an invasion. In fact it was specifically worded to avoid providing security guarantees as such. Only to provide "arms of a defensive character" and the like. So what you're saying about repealing the TRA in such a scenario is plainly incorrect.
You're also clearly hyperbolizing in regard to Ukraine, but we'll leave that aside for now.
Ukraine is not even remotely similar. It's strategic value is entirely symbolic to the US, and while defending them is a morally righteous cause, the importance of this battle to American homeland security is effectively nothing. If Russia launches a new front in Ukraine, the president's morning brief gets a new paragraph at the bottom. If China threatens Taiwan, America borders on national emergency. It's really that simple - I'm shocked that HN is so willingly duped into being a mouthpiece for sensationalist politics.