alt Hacker NewsWhy are all the comments here so weird? It's like people saw (but didn't read) an article entitled "Man Opens a Taqueria in his Hometown" and the only responses are
1) Why didn't he open it in my hometown? This location isn't convenient for me.
2) Wouldn't it be better for someone else to open a taqueria instead? My cousin is looking for work. Shouldn't we be putting resources into helping him open a restaurant instead?
It's like people hear "X in Asian country" and all they can think about is their own geopolitical narrative fed to them by the US state department. Obviously Japan is going to want to develop lucrative manufacturing... within Japan.
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Because commenters outside Japan may end up buying products containing chips made in Japan. If it was built in let's say France people would be thinking less about potential invasions. Just as "obviously Japan is going to want to develop lucrative manufacturing within Japan," obviously people outside of Japan are going to want manufacturing that is not liable to be shut down or taken over in some way. Not that I think Japan and China will actually go to war any time soon myself.
>geopolitical narrative fed to them by the US state department
Just this week Japan and China have been getting into a fight over the current PM's comments over Taiwan. China has canceled some flights to Japan and complained to the UN, announcing it will defend itself from Japan.[0][1] I'm not sure what point you are trying to make here. Are you saying major disputes between China and Japan don't exist and are invented by the US state department? Or that thinking about it in this context is the result of the commenters being fed by the US state department?
[0] https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3333992/china-blasts...
[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-takes-spat-with-ja...
Of course. On just one avenue - The Japanese auto industry is huge, and practically everything in a car has some kind of chip in it. The chip industry isn't just CPUs and GPUs, cars use numerous fairly small, primitive chips you could make using 20-year-old process nodes. The "Comparative Advantage" of global trade specialization has its limits. During COVID, international ports shut down frequently and challenged JIT process inventory levels. Raising inventory levels the next time is one way to deal with that, but so is encouraging some minimum level of domestic production.
The Japanese population trend is unsustainable with long term growth. Maybe they will find people to relocate to satisfy the labor needs? They're notoriously anti-immigration. So unless they have a growing labor pool that can sustain this it's going to be hard.
In general, I think the US is looking for alternatives outside of Taiwan to build and operate fabs. Yes, there is a push to get them in the US as well.
I'm unsure of why people in the EU seem disconcerted about this. No one is asking them not to create the programs to setup fabs. In fact the US may be thrilled that more allies are putting effort towards creating a supply chain not dependent on China (and Taiwan).
Usually around now, HN tends to be dominated by Western (and some Eastern) European commentators. I've noticed they tend to have a weird mix of orientalist sentiment along with a "Europe should be able to do this too".
Only 11 top level comments right now, and 354 total comments. To see just 3% of comments be top level is something.
> all they can think about is their own geopolitical narrative fed to them by the US state department.
It's almost like there is a propaganda campaign run all over social meda. Try a fun game, "What's it got to do with china?". Someone or something always tries to tie it to china.
I'll try and add something positive: Hokkaido seems like a great place to relocate and start a life for young aspiring workers. Homes are larger and quality of life has some advantages over the more densely populated parts of Japan. It's also very unique in terms of climate and geography: very heavy snows and mountains means there's limitless adventure for skiers and snowboarders. Yet, despite the snowy winters the winter isn't as brutally cold as you might think and its not so long as what you see in a place like Canada. Spring comes quickly and the summers are long, warm and pleasant so there's plenty of time to take advantage of the beaches and beautiful forests. And about those forests, one other unique thing about Hokkaido is that it's the only place in the world that can rival (or exceed) New England in terms of its brilliance of fall colors.
Anyways, just seems like a great place for Japanese workers to relocate and start a family. I guess the only thing missing were the jobs so hopefully these chip fabs fix that.