Washington’s chip export controls destroy global supply chains, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry

The restrictions imposed by the US on the export of computer chips to China go beyond the concept of national security and destroy supply chains, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Monday.

Citing national security concerns, the Biden Administration introduced a sweeping set of export controls in 2022 which are aimed at slowing China’s technological advances. Among the measures was a ban on sales to China of certain semiconductor chips made anywhere in the world with US equipment, and a block on shipments of chips for supercomputing systems and artificial intelligence (AI).

Speaking at a regular press conference in Beijing, Mao said that the US has “unreasonably” suppressed China’s semiconductor enterprises, according to Global Times newspaper; she went on to describe the restrictions as “a genuine act of economic bullying.”

The US Department of Commerce also announced it would conduct a semiconductor supply chain review in January to “reduce national security risks” posed by Beijing.

“The US uses ‘national security’ as a pretext to restrict chip exports to China, but in fact its relevant initiatives completely go beyond the boundaries of the concept of national security, so that the normal trade of ordinary civilian-use chips is significantly restricted,” Mao said. Such actions have also seriously impacted the stability of international production and supply chains, she added.

According to the Global Times, the US-made Nvidia RTX4090 graphics card, which is mainly designed for use with computer games, has been taken off the shelves in China due to the US export control measures. Instead, the world’s leading AI chipmaker recently unveiled a slower, less powerful version of the card that complies with US export controls and can be sold in the Asian nation.

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Chinese tech giant rebounds from US sanctions

The Dutch firm ASML, a key player in the global semiconductor manufacturing supply chain, reportedly cancelled shipments of hi-tech microchip machinery to China last week after being pressured by the US government.

Beijing on Sunday announced its own sanctions on five American defense industry companies, citing arms sales to Taiwan and the unilateral sanctions which the US has slapped on Chinese companies and individuals.

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