The United States is No longer a Patriot of State: Interrogating Chinese Companies for Intel and Nvidia Chips in Xinjiang

China has used some supercomputers to power invasive surveillance systems that target ethnic minorities. Next-generation weapons that could evade American defenses are some of the models which have been used by Beijing.

For instance, in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang, where hundreds of thousands of minority Uyghurs have been interned and surveilled, a supercomputer built with chips made by Intel and Nvidia has been used to process footage collected from ubiquitous video cameras in the area. Both Intel and Nvidia have said they were unaware of what they called misuse of their technology.

The U.S. government has sought to curb the flow of technology to projects like these in recent years, but those efforts have been frustrated by the wide availability of powerful microchips.

Companies will no longer be allowed to supply advanced computing chips, chip-making equipment and other products to China unless they receive a special license. Most of the licenses will be denied, though shipments to facilities run by U.S. companies will be evaluated case by case, the senior administration official said.

In remarks at the White House last month, Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said that the United States government had previously tried to stay a few generations ahead of competitors in certain key technologies, but that approach was no longer tough enough.

The threat environment is always changing, and we update our policies to ensure we are addressing the challenges posed by the P.R.C., while we continue our outreach and coordination with allies and partners.

“China firmly opposes the United States’ generalization of the concept of national security, abuse of state power, and unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies,” she told reporters, adding that such a move would “violate international economic and trade rules.”

The commerce ministry condemned the US move as threatening global supply chain stability and called it a typical practice of trade protectionism. The complaint is the first action China has taken at the global trade body against the US chip sanctions.

It’s unclear from the description whether Musk agreed to Beijing’s request, but Starlink’s service map shows no plans to deploy in China. Taiwan, Mongolia, and Vietnam are included on a list of countries that are pending regulatory approval.

Musk is exposed to international pressures even though he cherishes free speech principles in his public statements. The company has reportedly sold over 80,000 cars in China, which is located in the eastern part of the country. Musk has remained broadly aligned with Chinese government as a result, even authoring a column for a magazine run by the country’s internet censorship agency.

Musk is more likely to take ownership of the social network than ever before. Last week, Musk told a judge in his civil case with the company he believes that the deal will close by Oct. 28, and he recommitted last week to purchasing at his originally agreed price. Twitter remains officially blocked in China.

The Ups and Downs of Xi Jinping’s Strategy toward China: The Connections Between the U.S. and China

The country’s president will be expected to break with tradition and assume a third term, which could increase tensions with the U.S.

“This is actually one of the areas — compared to, for example, domestic reform and domestic economic policy — this is an area that Xi Jinping is going to prevail,” Sun said. “These people are going to operationalize his vision and his strategy with even more momentum and more precision.”

Sun said she expects the “political confidants” and “political loyalists” of Xi to be appointed to key positions involving national security and foreign policy to help enact his vision.

There are people within the government who do not believe that China’s policies toward the U.S. are the best, Sun said, but she predicts that those voices will be “eliminated from within the bureaucracy,” leaving China without a system of checks and balances.

While these are two specific issues, there’s a larger one that plays into the overall relationship: the asymmetrical views both countries have of the relationship. The U.S. tries to approach issues by issue, while China sees issues and action in a connected way, according to Li.

China’s strategy toward Taiwan has not fundamentally changed, Li said, but “there’s a perception that Beijing is more and more focused on no longer just deterring independence … but rather, compelling reunification.”

The American perception that high-level congressional visits from the likes of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lead to something of a catch-22 situation, Li said.

“You get this sort of back and forth between the U.S. and China, where the U.S. views its actions as responsive to Chinese actions, while China views its actions as a response to the U.S.”

The tech industry has become important for China as the country moves closer to a great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation by 2049, which is when it hopes to become a modern socialist country.

Li said that China has worked to bolster its domestic research and innovation capacity as it has become more of a focus. That has caused some in the U.S. to question if China will be able to support its technology needs in the future.

That’s led to what Li said is essentially an impasse. But that doesn’t mean progress can’t happen, only that achieving it will test both countries in the years to come.

China’s lawsuit at the WTO: a response to the US concerns about the Risc-V chip innovation alliance and Chinese security measures

A formal complaint was filed against the US by the country on Monday, according to a statement. Both countries are members of the trade body, which has a mechanism for resolving disputes.

“China’s filing of a lawsuit at the WTO is to resolve China’s concerns through legal means and is a necessary way to defend its legitimate rights and interests,” the ministry said.

Chips are a growing source of tension between the United States and China. Washington has been applying pressure on China’s tech sector by limiting access to cutting-edge chip components and machinery.

The Chinese government set up an industry alliance of companies and research institute just months after the US hit the Chinese company with an export ban. Risc-V is a chip design architecture that is being worked on by the group and it is competing with Arm, the current global leader. Members of the consortium include the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Alibaba

            (BABA), Tencent

            (TCEHY), and Baidu

            (BIDU).

The US has been trying to make sure that the Chinese tech giant isn’t able to do business with the world’s biggest economy.

Huawei has vehemently denied such claims, and its founder and CEO has repeatedly said the company would never hand data over to the Chinese government. Western security experts, however, have said that China’s national security and intelligence laws require Chinese companies to comply with demands for information.