Other countries aren't sitting by and watching idly, either. In 2023, Congressman Seth Moulton stated that the U.S. could hit TSMC's facilities in case of an invasion, while Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that such an event would signal an "existential crisis" for the nation, and allow for military operation under Japanese law. A couple years ago, the Phillipines, who regularly sees the ghost of future China in its sea, has granted the U.S. access to military bases pointing to Taiwan.
Clearly, there's a path for this situation to become a global conflict, affecting far more than the tech industry and the wider economy. And that's almost certainly one of the major reasons things haven't yet escalated further. Because a global economic crisis on top of a region-spanning military conflict isn't likely to be good for any government, at least in the short term.
Bruno Ferreira Contributor Bruno Ferreira is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware. He has decades of experience with PC hardware and assorted sundries, alongside a career as a developer. He's obsessed with detail and has a tendency to ramble on the topics he loves. When not doing that, he's usually playing games, or at live music shows and festivals.
KE=MV2 This is akin to England saying reunification with America is unstoppable. All the more reason why we, and other countries need to distance ourselves economically from China. Reply
Gururu This is political click bait. I can't help it. If there was ever a chance to take Taiwan, China has three more years to do it without repurcussions. Reply
redgarl We heard this from Russia with Ukraine, and we know what happened. Unfortunately for China, they need the fabs or they are going to push the world into an economic depression, which is going against their goal of being the first economy. They cannot force a full scale ground invasion. Also, Taiwan is an island. There is a reason why UK stood against Hitler during WW2, and it was because they are also an island. Reply
hotaru251 KE=MV2 said: This is akin to England saying reunification with America is unstoppable. issue being thats a smaller fish thinking it can eat the larger fish. China dwarfs Taiwan. w/o going into political bits that mods hate this is nothing new as China has stated this many times over past decade. Reply
derekullo If being close is all it takes then American should take Cuba ! … err nvm we already tried that 😛 Reply
nrdwka maybe tomshardware can be space to avoide political news on the main page? There is literally thousands of webpages to read that stuff Reply
blppt KE=MV2 said: This is akin to England saying reunification with America is unstoppable. Not really, since England isn't right off of our shoreline and running a hostile government. Reply
blppt redgarl said: We heard this from Russia with Ukraine, and we know what happened. Russia's economy and military are in more dire shape than China's. China also has like 10 times the population, if not more. Reply
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/semiconductors/chinas-president-xi-jinping-calls-taiwan-reunification-unstoppable-military-drills-around-the-island-escalate-in-area-and-deployments#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com
- Another 16-pin GPU power connector gets scorched, but this time it's not an RTX 5090 — User finds their Sapphire Nitro+ 9070 XT with scorched pins
- GeForce NOW Rings In 2026 With 14 New Games in January
- Americans lost $333 million to Bitcoin ATM fraud in 2025 — FBI says there is a ‘clear and constant rise’ of this scam, and that it is ‘not slowing down’
- MSI B850 MPower Motherboard Review: Micro ATX made for overclocking memory
- Grab this $139 Razer BlackWidow V4 wireless gaming keyboard at a record low price — save $60 on this low-profile TKL board with huge battery life
Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.