A day after the US announced sweeping export controls on advanced, high-performance computing chips, China has lashed out and criticised Washington for its malicious block.
“Out of the need to maintain its sci-tech hegemony, the US abuses export control measures to maliciously block and suppress Chinese companies,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
“It will not only damage the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, but also affect American companies’ interests,” she added.
As reported by WION, the US on Friday tightened export controls to cut off China from specific chips produced anywhere in the globe using American machinery, greatly extending its reach in an effort to halt Beijing’s scientific and military advancements.
WATCH | US-China battle over semiconductors
In a statement, commerce department official Alan Estevez said that the move aims to prevent ‘sensitive technologies with military applications’ from being acquired by China’s intelligence and security services.
After imposing the restrictions, Taiwan, the global hub of semiconductors also signalled compliance with the new US export controls.
Taiwan’s economy ministry stated in a statement in reaction to the U.S. declaration that Taiwanese businesses adhered to the law.
“Taiwan’s semiconductor industry has long served global customers and attaches great importance to compliance with laws,” it said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the largest contract chipmaker in the world and a significant supplier to businesses like Apple Inc., is based in Taiwan, a country that produces a lot of chips.
Read more: Taiwan signals compliance with new US export controls to hobble China’s chip industry
Notably, this is not the first time the US has moved to choke off Chinese firms’ supply of chips. In 2020, former president Donald Trump’s administration banned suppliers from selling chips made using US technology to tech giant Huawei without a special license.
As reported by WION, the US officials in early September told NVIDIA to stop exporting two top computing chips for artificial intelligence work to China
Read more: US officials order Nvidia to halt sales of top AI chips to China
(With inputs from agencies)
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