Why the US will never let China invade Taiwan
The US and Japan would carve up Xi like a Thanksgiving Turkey if he messed with Taiwan (our vital interests)?
Claude: Where are TSMC's plants located.
The overwhelming majority are in Taiwan. TSMC's six 12-inch GIGAFAB fabs, four 8-inch fabs, and one 6-inch fab are all in Taiwan, clustered in a few science parks running down the island's west coast: Hsinchu, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. Hsinchu is the headquarters and R&D hub, Tainan (Southern Taiwan Science Park) houses much of the leading-edge 3nm/5nm capacity, and Kaohsiung and Taichung are where the newest 2nm and 1.4nm fabs are going up. In November 2025 the company began building four 1.4nm fabs in the Central Taiwan Science Park, a roughly US$45 billion investment.
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Outside Taiwan, the footprint is much smaller:
Arizona (Phoenix) — the biggest overseas site. The first fab began mass production at the end of 2024 on a 4nm process; a second fab is built and slated for 3nm mass production in the second half of next year, with a third under construction that may use 2nm.
Washington State — an older 8-inch fab (TSMC Washington).
China — a 12-inch fab in Nanjing and an 8-inch fab via TSMC China (in Shanghai).
Japan (Kumamoto) — one 12-inch fab through its majority-owned JASM subsidiary, with a second fab under construction.
Germany (Dresden) — a specialty fab where construction began in 2024, not yet in production.
So despite the high-profile overseas expansion, Taiwan still holds the bulk of capacity and nearly all of the most advanced production.
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