Beijing demands WTO scrutiny over US-led chip restrictions to China
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Beijing asks that the United States, Japan, and the Netherlands go public regarding their agreement to curb chip exports to China.
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A generated photo of the US and Chinese flags with a semiconductor (Reuters)
Beijing requested that the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan clarify reports of an agreement between them to ban chip exports to China, a state news agency said on Wednesday.
China's representatives urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) during a regular meeting earlier this week to respond to the issue and asked that the three countries "notify the WTO of the agreement and subsequent measures," urging the international body to "strengthen supervision of the measures."
Amid the global struggle between powers, mainly China and the US, to gain tech superiority and establish world dominance in the industry, the United States has been calling on its allies to restrict cooperation with Beijing and deny its access to advanced chip technology in attempts to slow down the Asian giant's exponential growth in the sector, which Washington deems a "strategic threat".
In August 2022, US President Joe Biden signed a landmark bill - the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 - which will allocate $52.7 billion to subsidize semiconductor production and research in a bid to boost incentives to make the US more competitive with China's science and technology efforts.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington then said that Beijing "firmly opposed" the bill as it strikes as a "Cold War mentality."
In October 2022, the US Department of Commerce introduced sanctions on China, putting hurdles in Beijing's way to buy or develop advanced semiconductors.
China filed a case then with the World Trade Organization (WTO), hitting back at US export sanctions on microchips, further fueling the tech war between the two countries.
Earlier in March, the Netherlands said it introduced new plans to restrict chipmaking technology imports to China, which will be added to existing anti-China provisions adopted earlier following pressure from Washington to limit Beijing's access to the semiconductor manufacturing technology.
Read more: US tech companies prohibited from building facilities in China
After Japan announced export curbs last week, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry slammed the decision and considered it an attempt to "politicize, instrumentalize and weaponize trade and technology issues."
"With this type of action, they are harming others, but they are also harming themselves at the same time."
However, both the Netherlands and Japan did not cite China in announcing its restrictions, with Tokyo claiming that its goal was to "prevent the military diversion of technologies."
On its part, Beijing started taking measures to respond to Washington's hostile action toward the country.
China launched on Friday a probe against an American tech company - Micron Technology, a leading semiconductor manufacturer - operating in the country, stating that the investigation aims to "safeguard national security."
"Both Chinese companies and foreign companies operating in China must abide by Chinese laws and regulations and must not endanger China's national security," said a Foreign Ministry spokesperson during a regular Monday briefing.
