Taiwan, You and the 2 Questions
Thoughts on the Worsening Taiwan Conflict by Czech-born Philosopher Dushan Wegner
By Dushan Wegner, April 15, 2023 – English translation by DeepThought
🔥Taiwan: Is it really “just” about an island? Hmm, no. It’s more about the future of the globe, about the further course of history. Germany is asleep, China is not, and the U.S. seems a bit confused.
China discovers its “territorial claims” regarding an island in the East – Taiwan – so we read. Is it really all about land, earth and the people who live on it? - Oh, we guess. It’s about semiconductors, about computer chips - the things on which the armies as well as the companies of the future “run” on.
Brief history
The chip industry in Taiwan originated in the 1970s and 1980s, when the Taiwanese government invested specifically in the development of the semiconductor industry. With the establishment of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; see Wikipedia) and its subsidiary Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC; see Wikipedia) in 1987, Taiwan became an indispensable global player in the semiconductor industry.
While Germany is busy with heat pumps and other forms of practical self-destruction, less idiotically acting countries are preparing for the age of Artificial Intelligence. And this includes the production of computer chips, the finest of which are also produced in Taiwan.
Taiwan produces over 60% of the world’s semiconductors – and 90% of the world’s high-value ones (according to economist.com, 3/11/2023). Taiwan is not a mainland enclave that would have been painfully carved out of China. Taiwan is an island off China’s east coast. (By 2035, China plans to build a 130-kilometer bridge to Taiwan, according to asia.nikkei.com, Feb. 1, 2022.)
Simulated attacks
China is currently conducting “military exercises” with warships (cnn.com, 4/11/2023). Thematically, of course, this is reminiscent of Russia before it invaded Ukraine, but only thematically. The technical level is different. For example, China simulates the attack on an aircraft carrier near the island of Taiwan (cnn.com, 4/11/2023). Chinese state television seems to tune in its people and shows video animations of an attack on Taiwan (see YouTube, from 0:20).
As early as last year, Biden said the U.S. would want to defend the island of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack (see, for example, reuters.com, 9/19/2022) - but international policy experts question whether the U.S. actually could (see, for example, brookings.edu; 6/1/2022).
One may not even imagine it: If Chinese ships simply “blockaded” the island, the U.S. would have to attack. Let’s assume that the U.S. actually had the necessary war equipment, including ammunition and soldiers, in the area: Would they really face the political and economic consequences of killing Chinese soldiers to clear Taiwan?
And that is just one question among many. What measures do they want to take against cyber attacks that they are not already taking today?
Even relatively conservative and rational publications, such as wsj.com on Jan. 26, 2023, point out that the U.S. has no strategy ready for a defense of Taiwan.
Into thin air overnight
Fascinating as it may be to track the movement of warships and submarines or to speculate about possible connections with Ukraine, it still seems a bit short-sighted to me.
I dare to say that if it were technically possible, and if it were carried out, to move the chip industry from Taiwan to the USA overnight, for example, then the interest of the world powers in Taiwan would vanish into thin air overnight.
The conflict over Taiwan – as, by the way, do reports such as the one that Montana is the first U.S. state to really want to ban the Chinese “TikTok” completely (see apr.org, 4/1/2023) – confirms me in my assessment of what the two big battlefields of the future are: 1. Artificial Intelligence, 2. Mental stability, namely one’s own as well as that of the coming generation.
My consequence
The fact that world powers are currently fighting over Taiwan (and that some players are even speculating about what a world entirely without Taiwan’s chips would look like) is more than just a military issue. The real issue is why and what they are fighting about: The (smart) world powers are wrestling on many levels and venues (whether rare earths in Africa, research at universities or chips in Taiwan) over the one issue: the role in the future world determined by Artificial Intelligence.
And you?
You are a free person and can occupy yourself with whatever you want – there are enough distractions on offer – but (not only) I see only two relevant topics for active participation in the future, whether for individuals or entire corporations and states:
First, what is my role in the world of Artificial Intelligence?
And secondly: How stable is my psyche set up, how logical is my thinking, how reliably do I have my emotions under control, how open am I to new facts?
The only thing you can do better than a machine is to be a human being. Think about what that could mean for you – and then invest all your energy in it.
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Link to the original article in German.