The measures complicate Beijing’s drive to develop its semiconductor industry and advanced military systems. It comes ahead of China’s major party congress, where President Xi Jinping is expected to win a historic third term.
The rules, announced by the US Department of Commerce, include restrictions on the export of some chips and tighten requirements for selling semiconductor equipment. The goal is to prevent the acquisition of “sensitive military technology” by China’s military, intelligence, and security services, Commerce Department official Alan Estevez said in a statement. The production and export of semiconductors are a subject of competition between the two countries, which are fighting for technological dominance. In August, US President Joe Biden signed into law a multibillion-dollar bill to boost the nation’s semiconductor and other high-tech industries.
Tens of billions of dollars were also allocated to research and development. China is pouring resources into developing supercomputing capabilities and aims to become a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030, another Commerce Department official, Thea Candler, said. But the country “uses these opportunities to monitor, track and control its citizens and fuel its military modernization,” Candler said, BGNES reports.
