We could expect a dramatic increase in supply chain disruption, particularly for high-end integrated circuit chips made in Taiwan. The Taiwanese military reportedly have the chip fabs “wired for sound” so some of those chips would likely never come back.

With everything from heavy equipment through automobiles down to giveaway toys and logo items using integrated circuit chips, there would be some significant upheaval in commerce. People with modern cars may not, for example, be able to get the parts to fix them.

The other thing we could expect would be gigantic civilian casualties in China on a scale the world has never seen before[*]. Other than the monumental human tragedy, Chinese manufacturing would take a hit at least as big as the hit to high tech.


[* — see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Gorges_Dam and imagine that Taiwan decides to destroy it]