Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said qualified the America Competes Act (the Semiconductor Industry Competition and Development Bill) of “new cold war product between the United States and China”.
China does not want the America Competes Act
The country of Uncle Sam wants to put 352 billion dollars on the table to stimulate production and research and development in the field of semiconductors. A 2,900-page text that should allow the United States to to catch up on Asia and more particularly on China. The America Competes Act plans to massively support the industry to achieve this. Beijing’s reaction leaves no room for doubt: this bill will intensify the technological rivalry between the two great world powers.
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In China, state media and several senior officials have criticized the likely arrival of the America Competes Act. This bill provides funding of $52 billion to boost semiconductor production on American soil, $45 billion to strengthen supply chains, and $250 billion to accelerate research and development. ‘innovation. Not surprising that this bill irritates Beijing. It includes guidelines for addressing concerns about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, crackdowns on democracy in Hong Kong and tensions in Taiwan.
This bill reflects a “cold war mentality” according to Beijing
Zhao Lijian said on Monday February 7, 2022 that China strongly opposed the America Competes Act because he is “imbued with a Cold War mentality, undermining China’s development paths and policies, championing the rhetoric of competing with China, and making inappropriate remarks about Taiwan, Xinjiang , Hong Kong and Tibet ». Remarks similar to those made last year by Wang Wenbin, when the US Innovation and Competition Act was passed. The field of semiconductors is increasingly sensitive.
Today, the United States finds itself in an “alarming” situation. From the early 1990s to 2020, the United States’ share of global chip production increased from 37 to 12%. It should even fall by another 3% by 2030. Unless the support of the public authorities enables the trend to be reversed. China, meanwhile, is expected to see its share of chip manufacturing drop from 12% in 2020 to 28% in 2030. The rivalries between the two great world powers have crystallized for several months around this subject.