One of the few times of year the seas are right for a potential invasion of Taiwan. Everyone seems to think 2027 is the year China is targeting for the takeover of Taiwan, but it would surprise no one if they attempted to do it sooner.
Right now, the US is the weakest we've ever been in terms of naval power, since WW2 at least. Ukraine has taught us that our inventory of missiles, bombs, drones, artillery and other weapons is laughably low. War games show that we have enough missiles to last for 8 days of full scale conflict with China. If China thinks they are able to weather the storm, and are still able to operate the military on Day 9+, that's when they'll choose to invade.
Taiwan, via TSMC, is making sure the US won't leave them out to dry should China try to invade. For the US, and indeed for the rest of the world, diversifying the supply chain of chips should be the single top national security priority of every nation. It's going to take 10+ years to develop those manufacturing supply lines in the US. A trade-off of technology should be seen as well worth it as China approaches their nationalistic timetables.
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