China condemns US efforts to disrupt semiconductor industry

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Jun 2024 19:18

The Foreign Ministry expressed hopes that "relevant countries" would be able to see things for what they are, "firmly resist coercion, and jointly uphold an open and fair international trade in order to protect their own long-term interests."

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian pictued on June 19, 2024 (Chinese Foreign Ministry)

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Wednesday criticized the US for working to disrupt the growth of China's semiconductor industry to maintain its own technological dominance.

The remarks come after Bloomberg reported that US Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez is scheduled to visit Japan and the Netherlands to urge these countries to impose restrictions on China's semiconductor sector. But Tokyo and Amsterdam reportedly resisted Washington's pressure, preferring to await the outcome of the upcoming US presidential election this autumn.

When asked to comment on the report, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian responded: "The US has been inciting bloc confrontation and even extending it to trade and technology, and coercing other countries to go after China's semiconductor industry. China firmly opposes it."

The US' aims at "perpetuating its supremacy and denying China's legitimate right to grow and thrive," he added, and hoped that "relevant countries" would be able to see things for what they are, "firmly resist coercion, and jointly uphold an open and fair international trade in order to protect their own long-term interests."

In October 2022, the US implemented regulations aimed at restricting the export of equipment and components crucial for manufacturing advanced chips to Chinese firms. A year later, the Commerce Department imposed further limitations on semiconductor exports. This included redefining artificial intelligence chips and broadening licensing requirements to prevent their resale to China in over 40 countries.

Blackmailing the Netherlands

In January, the Biden administration urged ASML, the largest Dutch semiconductor producer, to prohibit shipments of sophisticated equipment to China in another attempt to prevent Beijing from gaining an advantage in the semiconductor race.

Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography, or ASML, is a Dutch company specialized in producing not the semiconductors, but the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines that manufacture the chips.

The article details that ASML planned to transfer the last high-end deep ultraviolet lithography machines to its Chinese partners before new Dutch export limits took effect in January, but US authorities interfered and persuaded the business to cancel them.

ASML planned to transfer the last high-end deep ultraviolet lithography machines to its Chinese partners before new Dutch export limits took effect in January, but US authorities interfered and persuaded the business to cancel them. But the Netherlands also seeks to preserve its own interests, including the ASML's, which views China as its second biggest market after Taiwan.

In a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in late March, President Xi Jinping said tech barriers and the severing of industrial supply chains would only lead to confrontations and divisions, adding that cooperation is the only path to follow.

"The Chinese people also have the legitimate right to development, and no force can stop China's scientific and technological development and progress."