A new climax in the Sino-US technology war
A new U.S.-China tech war is underway. The U.S. government has recently taken a series of measures to further escalate sanctions on Huawei and other Chinese technology companies, triggering strong dissatisfaction and countermeasures from the Chinese government and public opinion. This round of confrontation has once again pushed China and the United States to a new peak of competition, and the wrestling in the field of science and technology will become even more intense.
The latest move of the US government is undoubtedly showing a sharper "fang" to China's scientific and technological development. On May 7, the U.S. Department of Commerce confirmed that it had revoked the licenses of Intel, Qualcomm and other companies to export chips to Huawei, cutting off Huawei's access to these U.S. chip suppliers. Soon after, the United States added 37 Chinese entities involved in high-altitude balloons, quantum technology, nuclear programs, and aid to Russia to a trade blacklist, restricting their access to key technologies such as chips and quantum technology.
This is another round of harsh crackdown on Huawei and Chinese technology companies by the U.S. government in recent years. As early as 2019, the United States added Huawei to an export control "entity list", prohibiting American companies from exporting technology products to it. In the years since, the United States has escalated sanctions on Huawei, from restricting Huawei's access to Google's Android system, to banning the sale of equipment needed to make chips, to cutting off Huawei's access to American chips.
China responded strongly
In the face of a new round of pressure from the United States, both the Chinese government and Huawei have responded resolutely. A spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce pointed out on the 8th that the United States has generalized the concept of national security, politicized economic and trade issues, abused export control measures, and repeatedly adopted unreasonable sanctions and suppressive measures against specific Chinese companies, which China firmly opposes.
The spokesperson said that the US restriction on the export of purely civilian consumer chip products to China and the suspension of supply to specific Chinese companies are typical economic coercive practices, which not only violate WTO rules, but also seriously damage the interests of US companies. What the US has done has seriously violated its commitments to "not seek decoupling from China" and "not hinder China's development", and runs counter to its statement of "accurately defining national security". China will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has repeatedly criticized the United States on this matter, demanding that it stop generalizing the concept of national security, stop politicizing economic, trade, and technological issues, and stop abusing export control measures. Some Chinese media have described the U.S. sanctions as "black-handed" and repressive efforts against Chinese companies.
Huawei said that it will respond to international political uncertainties with the certainty of legal compliance and strictly abide by all applicable laws and regulations of the countries where it operates, including the export control and sanctions laws and regulations applicable to the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union.
The effectiveness of the sanctions is questionable
Some observers believe that the U.S. sanctions against Huawei and Chinese technology companies have certain loopholes, and their effectiveness is still limited.
Lin Zongnan, a professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at National Taiwan University, pointed out that the United States only revoked Intel and Qualcomm's chip export licenses to Huawei, which does not mean that Huawei cannot get high-end chips or technologies from the United States. In the future, Huawei may still be able to purchase chips from the United States through its subsidiaries or other suppliers that have not been banned by the United States. In terms of effect, this stick is actually too soft and has no effect at all.
Lin Zongnan believes that there are very big loopholes in the current sanctions imposed by the US government. One of the biggest problems is that it mistakes the means for the end, and doesn't really clarify what the real end is and then develop an effective strategy for that end.
Despite years of severe sanctions imposed by the United States, Huawei's vitality remains tenacious. Last year, Huawei expected to achieve annual sales revenue of about 636.9 billion yuan, 100 million yuan more than in 2021. At the beginning of this year, Huawei broke through the technical blockade and launched the Mate 60 Pro mobile phone with a 7nm process chip, which received an enthusiastic response in the domestic market and surprised the United States.
Experts, this reflects that China's semiconductor industry has made a breakthrough under US sanctions, and the Chinese government is willing to subsidize the local chip industry at any cost. As long as consumers in China and other countries and regions remain keen to buy Chinese products, it will be difficult to completely stop China's technological progress.
The Sino-US technology war is protracted
It is not difficult to see that the Sino-US science and technology war is entering a new white-hot stage. Both sides are sticking to their positions, and the wrestling in the tech sector is unlikely to end anytime soon.
On the one hand, the United States regards China's scientific and technological development as a "threat", believing that it will enhance China's military power and endanger the dominant position of the United States in the field of science and technology. The United States does not hesitate to use its national power to suppress Chinese technology companies through sanctions, blockades and other means, in an attempt to curb the pace of China's scientific and technological development.
China, on the other hand, regards its technological autonomy as a core interest and will not give in easily. After years of technological blockade by the United States, China will accelerate its independent innovation in science and technology and get rid of its dependence on American technology products.
For some time to come, the Sino-US science and technology war will be in a state of stalemate. Both sides will make efforts in key areas such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, chip manufacturing, etc., and seek to occupy an advantage in the new round of scientific and technological revolution.
And in this technology war, Huawei will undoubtedly play the role of China's "flagship". As a representative of China's scientific and technological strength, Huawei's development status will be regarded by the outside world as a "weather vane" of the Sino-US technology war. The United States may continue to crack down on Huawei more severely in the future, and Huawei will continue to exert its own innovation vitality to survive in the face of adversity.