Nancy Pelosi, who presides over the US House, has not backed off from visiting Taiwan in the coming weeks, despite opposition from Joe Biden and the Pentagon. And also from the Chinese foreign ministry, it is warning that it will respond with “measures of force” and that “we do what we say”.
At the same time, the Secretary of Commerce explained in a statement and interview what is at stake. “Our dependence on Taiwan for chips is unsustainable,” said Gina Raimondo. “It’s scary that you allow yourself to think of a scenario where the US doesn’t have access to the chips, crippling our production of military equipment.”
It was lobbying for congressmen to pass a billion-dollar package for American chip or semiconductor makers, but it goes further. “There’s not much we can do to slow China down, but we need to do it. We need to deny China the technology that would give them an advantage, and we’re doing that.”
Since Donald Trump, the US has sought to deny China chips with American technology from Taiwan. But the new week of threats and disagreements by the Democratic government ended in an unusual way, in the most read report by Bloomberg on Friday (22), “China’s largest chipmaker achieves breakthrough despite US restrictions”.
Shanghai-based giant SMIC is producing semiconductors “with 7-nanometer technology, a measure of manufacturing complexity where narrower transistor widths” make the product faster and more efficient. It represents a “two-generation leap, defying US sanctions” for the company.
The news came earlier in Canadian TechInsights, which identified the technology in a bitcoin mining chip and assessed: “It is SMIC’s most advanced product so far, with important implications for Chinese companies, as it helps to reduce dependence on Western technologies during this period. restricted access time”.
Bloomberg waited two days to report, which it did after “a person familiar with the developments confirmed” the information — and also after shares in SMIC and other Chinese companies linked to the sector, such as Fudan, Naura and Amec, jumped. up to 5% on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
A leading technology vehicle in Taiwan and mainland China, DigiTimes of Taipei also published, based on TechInsights. And Beijing finance company Caixin reproduced the Bloomberg report. But the news, even due to the silence of SMIC when sought, has been treated with care. It has the potential to deflate the pressure for war in Asia.
