I hear that TSMC has a "big red button" to destroy their fabs if China were ever to invade.

The belief that such a button exists would be a game theoretic deterrent to invasion.

But one thing that it presumes: there will be an invasion, with a discontinuous moment where it makes sense to hit the big red button.

Imagine instead a "boil the frog" situation.

China slowly ramps up blockades on exports, incrementally over multiple years.

There's no obvious time to hit the big red button.

But the result is that as the boa constrictor tightens it has more and more power.