The USA not only wants to kill off the Chinese chip
making industry, but is in fact killing two birds with one stone by
indirectly dragging Taiwanese, Japanese and South Korean chipmakers
right into the Chinese retaliatory moves. Remember that TSMC, Samsung
and numerous other Japanese chipmakers are also competitors moving up
against the USA chip manufacturing 'monopolisation' move.
By
forming the Chip Alliance, it dragged chip manufacturers in those
countries to also bear the consequences of China's retailiation. China's
restriction of essential rare earth elements not only affects the USA,
albeit less disastrously, but affects Taiwanese, Japanese and South
Korean chip manufacturers most signigicantly.
The South Koreans
are now realising the danger of forcing China going all out to be
totally self reliant in chips supply in time to come, and what does that
leave South Korean chip makers? Who are they going to do business with?
It is going to be a losing proposition for them to follow the USA.
That
even Apple is thinking of using YMTC's flash memory chips is testament
to how far China's memory chip innovation has improved in such a short
span of time. The USA may force Apple to decline using YMTC's Nand flash
memory chips, but China can always put the same restrictions on other
competing foreign memory chip makers operating in China, and being used
in Apple's manufacturing hub in China, like what it did to Micron.
'National Security Issue' is a wide ranging weapon to be used for
anything under the sun.
Anonymous
China's priority to be self sufficient in the chips sector is causing alarm in some quarters of the USA.
ReplyDeleteAccording to China Focus (CNF) quoting Sina News, John Bolton (wonder when he became expert economic advisor) warns China that its chip development will lead to economic crisis. Why is he worried about an economic crisis in China that will undoubtedly favour the USA? Why not let China fall into this trap, instead of warning China? Everyday they have been selling the mantra of the collapse of China on social media. Seems that when a bad hearted person gives good hearted advice, care must be taken to understand the motive. This must be the mother of all jokes from the hardcore neo-Con anti-China joker, who together with Pence are now demonising Donald Trump, turning traitors to reveal their true vile and mean characters. By the way, what is the next date of China's collapse according to Gordon Chang, the other expert with zero credibility?
Bolton claimed that no country can master the whole chip production chain, not even the USA, and that China's plan will lead to economic crisis. He quoted the example of ASML as an entity that also needed to rely on outside supply chains to produce its lithography machines. This is of course the reality, and is revealing the gospel truth about the invincibility of ASML. It seems ASML is not that invincible after all!
Why is the USA turning to this kind of narrative to instil doubts in the Chinese intent, focusing on its chip development effort going forward, with massive investments going into the sector? The answer lies in the USA now realising that its chip war effort is not going to stop China's move towards self reliance. Therefore, they need to find new ammunition to demonise what is realistically already working well for China.
Bolton's hidden message is deviously and discreetly telling China not to make chip development self sufficiency as its priority, and instead continue to buy from the USA, which is developing so rapidly as a chip manufacturing hub. Whatever hub is useless without the market to sell to. He probably could see the catastrophe unfolding within the USA chip manufacturing industry without the Chinese market. Intel, Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Samsung and TSMC will have to be content with eating each other up eventually.
China's move towards self reliance is all geared towards countering USA sanctions, nothing more, nothing less and nothing in the shoes of ASML. If China relents in its move towards chip self sufficiency, pulls back investments in the chip sector, and goes back to buy and depend on USA by not trying to be self sufficient, it is falling into the same trap set by the USA in the past. There is so much to be learnt from the saying - Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. China is not going to be fooled ever again.
Suffice to say, if that is the reality of chip development as espoused by John Bolton, why then is the USA itself attempting to create a chip manufacturing hub itself to monopolise chip production, without having the critical mass of skilled workers to back it up? The lies are self revealing, the prophecy self fulfulling for the USA itself.