But I've always wondered if they need the tech or the land more. If it is the tech only, why not resort to industrial espionage or just kidnapping the key engineers from TSMC? Where does the core value of TSMC line on? It is the know-how, some specific machinery that is hard to replicate even if you have the blueprints or something else?
The PRC doesn't "need" Taiwan, either in a geographic sense or in an industrial capacity. This is purely a regime legitimacy test; the presence of non-communist Chinese right off the coast is a rebuke of the PRC. It's a bit similar to how Cuba is viewed in some parts of the US.
> If it is the tech only, why not resort to industrial espionage or just kidnapping the key engineers from TSMC
They know how to fab chips, they don't have the tech.
It would be far more useful to kidnap Dutch technicians and scientists from ASML. But that wouldn't be enough as ASML is also dependent on some key chemicals and tools manufactured in other countries.
