Reference message networkReported on December 22nd. Singapore’s Straits Times website published an article signed by Charlesa Young on December 19th, saying that the United States’ efforts to set up a "chip fence" against China met with resistance.
Peter Wen Ning, the head of ASML Holding Company, a Dutch chip equipment manufacturer, is not happy that the United States is pushing the Netherlands to implement new regulations restricting the export of chips to China.
In an interview with the Dutch newspaper New Rotterdam Business last week, the CEO said: "We have given up enough things." He pointed out that the company’s current export restrictions to China have benefited its American competitors.
According to the article, since the United States announced in October that it would restrict the export of chips, chip manufacturing tools and chips produced overseas with American equipment to China, the United States has been urging the Netherlands, Japan and South Korea to also restrict their chip exports to China.
However, the obvious gap between the United States and its allies and Washington’s unilateral export control have aroused people’s doubts and concerns.
The United States has pressured its allies to restrict the export of chips to China, and these countries are worried that the restrictions may run counter to their own interests. This seems to be an uncomfortable top-down approach.
The article said that although the United States pointed out that such export control is also in line with the national interests of its allies, these interests should ultimately be decided by each country.
With the help of its allies, the stated goal of the United States is to prevent China from buying and producing high-end chips for military purposes. In order to do this, Washington chose to isolate China from the global chip ecosystem, just as Tim Chulpan, a technology columnist of Bloomberg, put it, and set up a "chip fence" around China — — This containment strategy is reminiscent of the Cold War.
The article said that in order for this blockade strategy to work, Washington needs allies to join. Like the United States, the Netherlands and Japan are two other countries that hold a decisive position in the field of semiconductor technology.
Dutch enterprises and their governments are dissatisfied with American demands that they stop selling products to China, their biggest customer. Reduced sales may also cut their R&D budget, which will enable them to remain competitive with their American rivals.
The Minister of Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation of the Netherlands, Li Xie Schreiner Maher, said that the Netherlands will make a decision according to its own strategic interests. Schreiner Maher told Dutch parliamentarians at the end of November: "We must defend our own interests — — Our national security and our economic interests. "
According to the article, at present, the United States and the Netherlands have different views on the threat of China’s chip development to its strategic interests.
Martin Lasser of the Center for New American Security and Kevin Wolff of Georgetown University wrote that the Dutch may think that this threat is too indirect and there is no need to impose comprehensive restrictions on chips that are mainly used for commercial purposes rather than military purposes.
According to the article, executives from Sony and Nippon Electric expressed doubts about the long-term effectiveness of the US move.
In a report in the Financial Times this month, Takashi Morita, CEO of NEC, said: "I personally think that although the technological dispute between the United States and China over the chip issue may slow down China’s technological progress, the overall trend will not change."
He said: "China’s competitiveness in the field of science and technology cannot be ignored. In the long run, it will become one of the forces."
According to the article, the expansion and extraterritoriality of US export controls are also causing friction.
The United States has relaxed its "foreign direct product rule", which stipulates that the US government can prevent the sale of products made with American technology, even if they are made overseas. This rule applies to chip exports to China, because the United States provides tools to most chip manufacturers.
Emily Weinstein, a researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technologies, said in an interview last week: "Overall, these countries are not optimistic ‘ Rules for foreign direct products ’ — — No one wants another country to conduct extraterritorial management of its exports. "
Weinstein said: "Export control is also unpopular in South Korea."
According to the article, Yi Ming (Elizabeth Konomi), an adviser to the US Department of Commerce, recently met with South Korean officials in Seoul. She said that South Korean officials had questioned whether the United States was a reliable partner.