Washington abusing restrictive measures: China Daily editorial

In a strongly worded statement, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce excoriated the United States for engaging in unilateral bullying behavior, saying that it "talks a good game while doing the opposite".

Lambasting the US for constantly expanding the concept of national security and abusing export control measures that seriously affect companies from all over the world, including the US, the ministry pilloried the US for its abuse of regulatory measures that impede normal economic and trade exchanges among countries, seriously undermine market rules and the international economic and trade order, and threaten the stability of the global industry and supply chains.

The statement came in response to the US Department of Commerce announcing on Monday new export restrictions targeting China. The package of measures includes restrictions on China-bound shipments of high bandwidth memory chips that are critical for high-end applications such as artificial intelligence training; new curbs on 24 additional chip-making tools and three software tools; and new export curbs on chip-making equipment made in countries such as Singapore and Malaysia.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday it would restrict exports to the US of some key components used in making semiconductors after the US Department of Commerce announced the new curbs targeting shipments of advanced memory chips and chip-making tools to Chinese companies.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, in a statement, described the latest crackdown the US has launched on China's high-tech sector as "significant steps to protect our technology from being used by our adversaries in ways that threaten our national security", adding that Washington will keep working with its allies "to proactively and aggressively safeguard our world-leading technologies and know-how so they aren't used to undermine our national security".

Yet national security is only a pretext for the US to undermine China's tech sector. Its tech salvos are actually aimed at crippling China's overall tech development and its economic growth.

China will therefore take all necessary measures to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

Given that the semiconductor industry is highly globalized, other countries, including some of the US' allies, should stand with China in opposing the US repeatedly abusing regulatory measures to weaponize trade. Dutch and ROK companies are among those whose businesses will be harmed by the latest US restrictions.

Dutch lithography equipment maker ASML said the latest US restrictions, if enforced by the Dutch government, would affect the company's exports of deep ultraviolet lithography systems to chip-making plants in China. The company already predicts its sales will be at 30-35 billion euros ($31.5-36.7 billion) in 2025, with only about 20 percent of sales in China — down from around 50 percent this year.

The US' attacks on Chinese tech, which are aimed at maintaining its own leadership position, are so indiscriminate that it tries to box them and tie them up in the bows of a response to national security threats when trying to sell them to its collateral-damaged partners.

Yet in spite of all their efforts, the China hawks in Washington are destined to be disillusioned if they think imposing technology sanctions on China will prevent the country from advancing its domestic semiconductor manufacturing system as it pursues modernization. Such efforts are only spurring China to intensify its quest to innovate and achieve self-reliance in high technologies.

A survey done by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute suggests that China is leading in 37 of 44 cutting-edge technologies, including nanoscale materials and synthetic biology. China is also employing industrial robots at 12 times the rate of the US. Therefore, China, with its science and innovation making rapid progress, will not easily succumb to the US attacks.

History proves that global cooperation drives development of science to benefit all humanity. The "small yard, high fence" policy that focuses on safeguarding the world-leading technologies and know-how for the exclusive benefit of an increasingly mono-fixated hubristic hegemon is a threat to global stability and progress.

The US should focus more on the benefits new technology can bring to humanity and less on trying to choke China's development.