Today, with the rapid development of the 21st century, there is a saying in the international community that "those who get semiconductors win the world". This means that if any country can hold an absolute leading position in the field of semiconductors, then this country will be able to achieve a huge lead over other competitors in the development process. Although there is a certain exaggeration in this statement, it is true. Nowadays, whether it is daily life, production and office, or national defense and military, all fields in society are inseparable from the support of semiconductors. Especially after entering the information society, the core representative chips in semiconductors have also become the object of enthusiastic pursuit by various countries. Many countries have invested huge amounts of human and material resources in this area to try to take the lead in this field. As the world's strongest superpower, the United States is currently in a leading position in the field of semiconductors, but in order to ensure that its leading position has not wavered, the United States chooses to "preemptively" against other competitors, that is, to destroy the other side's semiconductor industry through various means. China, with the rapid development of semiconductor technology, has now become the "biggest threat" in the eyes of the United States.
According to a number of foreign media sources, the global lithography machine giant ASML recently issued a notice saying that they have canceled the order for lithography machines originally planned to be sent to China, on the grounds that the export licenses of some lithography machines have been revoked by the Dutch government, so ASML is not allowed to export these advanced chip manufacturing equipment to the Chinese market. However, ASML also made a point of emphasizing that it has discussed the matter with the top level of the Dutch and US governments, hoping to get a proper solution. As soon as this news was reported, it immediately aroused widespread concern in the international community. In the Netherlands, it has also triggered protests from many parliamentarians and politicians, and the reason is very simple, the ban on the export of lithography equipment to China has seriously damaged the interests of the Netherlands, and the Netherlands should realize the strategic autonomy of high and new technology and get rid of the influence of the United States. But this series of protests were all in vain, and the Dutch government still failed to withstand the pressure of the United States, and finally chose to join the "semiconductor alliance" of the United States.
For the current Biden administration, they will never give up until China's chip and semiconductor industry is completely defeated and destroyed. Unlike previous administrations, the Biden administration hopes to permanently establish the absolute leading position of the United States in the field of semiconductors, and does not allow any country to challenge and impact it, nor does it allow any country to threaten it. In the 70s and 80s of the last century, Japan could indeed challenge the hegemony of the United States in the field of semiconductors, but after the outbreak of the "Toshiba Incident" and the signing of the "Plaza Accord", Japan's once-prosperous semiconductors completely fell to the bottom, and now it has become a vassal of the American semiconductor giants. And China's fast-growing semiconductor industry has also made the United States feel an unprecedented threat, especially after Huawei released the Mate 60 Pro in 2023, this sense of crisis is even stronger. Because according to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo, they determined that the production and manufacturing of Kirin 9000S chips did not use American technology, so now the Biden administration's approach is also very simple, that is, to completely strangle everything in the cradle, and prevent the development of China's chip technology by banning advanced lithography machines from entering China.
Perhaps in the Biden administration's view, if you can start with the manufacturing process, it will be difficult for China's high-tech enterprises to achieve mass production even if they have advanced chip technology. So can this really achieve the desired goal? The answer is no. We all know that although China's semiconductor industry started late, the foundation is thin, and it has been in a state of catching up due to the influence of many objective factors. However, in recent years, China has successfully narrowed the gap with major semiconductor countries such as the United States and Japan, and has even completed the lead in some fields. This situation also shows that Chinese can take the lead in the field of semiconductors and reach the international first-class level. Now, if the United States wants to completely bring down China's semiconductor industry, it is completely a wrong choice to kill 800 enemies and lose 1,000 yuan. The more the United States blockades and contains, the faster the development of China's semiconductor industry will be, and Huawei's Kirin 9000S chip is undoubtedly the best example. As for the Netherlands taking the lead in firing the first shot against China this time, it was a very wrong choice. According to ASML's senior management, banning lithography machines from entering the Chinese market will lead to a 10-15 percentage point reduction in ASML's sales in China, and the subsequent losses are difficult to estimate. And when China achieves a key technological breakthrough in lithography machines, the United States and the Netherlands will surely regret their wrong decision.