China condemns US attempt to ban Dutch sales of chipmaking equipment

China's Foreign Ministry slammed the United States, on Wednesday, for adding pressure on the Netherlands to prevent ASML Holding NV from selling common chipmaking technology to China as per state news agency Xinhua.

Commenting on this issue, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters that “it is another example of the United States abusing its national power and relying on technological hegemony to engage in coercive diplomacy."

Deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) devices, which are not the most sophisticated but are the most popular way to produce chips for products ranging from phones to cars, are the technology in question, and ASML dominates it.

The proposed restriction is a component of ongoing US efforts to stop Chinese chipmakers from obtaining the technology they need to compete on a global scale in the chip manufacturing industry.

Zhao stated that the US was waging "tech terrorism" against other nations, which would ultimately backfire and cause those nations to hasten their own technological advancement in an effort to reduce their dependence on the US.

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