It has been a LOOOOONG time since Intel built a greenfield fab.
Yes it has been. I think the last one was F18 in Israel, no? I can't make any sense out of building a 90nm fab anywhere much less China but I don't think China would have approved something Intel didn't apply for, would they? Of course India approved an Intel fab as well and nothing happened there. Something strange is about to happen, that's my gut feel.