Biden Tries To ‘Annihilate’ China’s Semiconductor Industry

New rules announced by the U.S. Department of Commerce Oct. 14 go well beyond any anti-China economic warfare even contemplated by Peter Navarro or President Donald Trump. The new rules block the sale of certain semiconductors and chip-making equipment to any Chinese company or agency, by any company in the world which uses any U.S.-made production inputs. The rules aim to stop China from manufacturing advanced semiconductors and other components for supercomputers; they block U.S. companies from exporting anything to Chinese companies making semiconductor chips of a certain level of advancement; and they also seek to compel all Americans working for semiconductor companies in China to leave the companies and the country.

“The Biden administration’s restrictions on semiconductor technology exports to China are designed to help the U.S. maintain as large a lead in technology as possible over rivals,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration Thea D. Rozman Kendler at a forum Oct. 13, according to a Bloomberg report. Another Bloomberg article Oct. 16 claimed the restrictions are “sending shockwaves through the [Chinese] semiconductor industry.” Listen to Jordan Schneider, a Rhodium Group “China expert,” who made this claim Oct. 14 on Twitter:

“Every American executive and engineer working in China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry resigned yesterday, paralyzing Chinese manufacturing overnight. This is what annihilation looks like. China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry was reduced to zero overnight…. No chance of survival.”

As Biden famously said in April, “The ruble is rubble.”

Because the U.S. itself has fallen far behind Taiwan, South Korea, the Netherlands, and other nations in advanced chip manufacture, the destructive effect of the U.S. rules on China’s semiconductor manufacturing industry will depend on the Biden Administration’s willingness to fully use the power of financial sanctions to stop all the manufacturers of equipment used in producing the most advanced chips, from selling to China.

The U.S. is threatening drastic financial sanctions against the same companies that supply U.S. firms with advanced chips, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., the world’s leader. It also demands that chip design tool companies in Silicon Valley and elsewhere in America abandon their own sales!

The head of the think-tank Center for Innovating the Future, Abishur Prakash, commented to CNBC:

“With the latest action, the chasm between the U.S. and China has now expanded to the point of no return.”

Xi to CPC: China Will Not Be Swayed from Its Development Path

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and President of China Xi Jinping delivered a report at the opoening of the 20th CPC National Congress Oct. 16, laying out an ambitious agenda for reaching the goal of transforming China into a “modern socialist society in all respects by 2050.” Over 2,000 delegates attended this month’s 20th CPC Congress (Oct. 16-22), which meets every 5 years.

President Xi was adamant that China will not be deterred by clumsy and spiteful attempts to deprive China of its right to technological development, saying:

“China’s development must remain in its own hands. We can’t be swayed or cowed by pressure.”

Xi identified three areas of action that will allow China to “surmount all obstacles on the road ahead.” These are: continued reliance on the domestic market as the primary driver of growth in its “dual circulation” policy; China’s emphasis on the pursuit of breakthroughs in science and technology; and its determination to remain open to the outside world. He said,

“We must regard science as our primary productive force, talent as our primary resource, and innovation as our primary driver of growth.”

In the international arena, Xi reported that the Belt and Road Initiative has been welcomed as a platform for development by many countries, noting that China thereby—

“offers humanity a new choice for development…. We will strengthen solidarity with other countries and take part in the reform of global governance. China put forward the Global Development Initiative and the Global Security Initiative, and it stands ready to work with the international community to put these two initiatives into action.”

Much of Xi’s report also focused on the key role of the CPC and the need to continue reform, and eliminate corruption, so that dedication to the people’s welfare is foremost.

On the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), Xi said that it must be built into a military with world-class standards. He called for strengthening China’s “strategic deterrence” saying,

“We will continue the integrated development of the military through mechanization, informatization, and the application of smart technologies and work faster to modernize military theory, organizational forms, personnel, and weapons and equipment.”

Xi called for an equitable world order.

“China stands firmly against all forms of hegemonism and power politics, the Cold War mentality, interference in other countries’ internal affairs, and double standards … It is committed to promoting a new type of international relations, deepening and expanding global partnerships based on equality, openness and cooperation, and broadening the convergence of interests with other countries.”

China Rejects the ‘Thucydides Trap’ Trap

Despite a deluge of anti-China policy statements coming from the UK and the U.S. in the week of Oct. 12, labeling China the greatest threat to the “post-war liberal world order,” Sun Yeli, Chinese spokesperson for the 20th National Congress of the CPC said that the U.S. and China can, and must get along. Speaking at an Oct. 15 press conference in Beijing, when asked to comment on growing China-U.S. tensions, Sun said:

“We have never believed in the so-called ‘Thucydides trap,’ and oppose the logic that a strong country is bound to seek hegemony. We don’t bully others, but we won’t allow others to bully us. The general trend cannot be reversed. No one and no force can stop the historic process of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation…. We believe that the people of China and the U.S. have the wisdom, opportunity and capability to find such a way to get along.”

Sun Yeli referred to the interests that the United States and China have in common, including economic relations and resolving the world’s problems. The “Thucydides trap” is the concept popularized by American geopolitician Graham Allison, that the war between Athens and Sparta in ancient Greece is proof that if one rising power becomes stronger than a pre-existing power, then conflict is the likely result.

China’s Work on Perennial Rice Is Progressing

Dr. Liu Huan, the Chief Scientist of the Chinese firm BGI Research Agriculture and Director of BGI Bioverse, issued a statement on World Food Day, Oct. 16, that BGI work on perennial rice is progressing. Perfecting it will be revolutionary for the world food supply, because not having to plant a crop every year will cut expenses and work hours significantly. Field trials are underway in 13 rice-growing provinces in China and in 17 other countries, including Bangladesh and Myanmar in Asia, and Ethiopia and Uganda in Africa, and other nations.

The favored strain being tested incorporates Oryza Longistaminata wild rice from Africa, which provides stress tolerance. The yields look good. Perennial strains make use of rhizomes for reproduction, which one-season varieties don’t have.

Italian Astronaut Tweets Chinese Poem from ISS

Italian ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti sent a beautiful tweet out from the International Space Station (ISS) in early October, which was a quote from Chinese calligrapher Wang Xizhi in his Preface to Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion, written nearly 1,700 years ago.

“Looking up, I see the immensity of the cosmos, bowing my head, I look at the multitude of the world. The gaze flies, the heart expands, the joy of the senses can reach its peak, and indeed, this is true happiness.”

The tweet has caused both appreciation and also geopolitical agitation, because present U.S. policies restrict Chinese taikonauts from participating on the ISS.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said at her briefing Oct. 13,

“I have read about it, too, and the Italian astronaut certainly has my liking. Exploring the universe has been mankind’s dream since ancient times. Thanks to scientific and technological progress, reaching beyond the Moon has become a reality. Humanity will continue to benefit from the noble endeavor of exploration and peaceful use of space.

“Just a few days ago we also saw a video clip shared online showing the magnificence of our blue planet Earth seen from China’s space station. Countries around the world can and need to work together to look after the planet we all call home and make the world a better place for all.”

ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher likewise used the occasion to depict space exploration as a common effort of all mankind: “There is no way to put a boundary in space.”

Native Italian Cristoforetti is fluent in Chinese (as well as in English, German, French and Russian) and had trained on an ESA joint training mission with the China National Space Administration. As a result of the publicity, Cristoforetti may well be chosen as one of the first foreign astronauts to work on the Chinese Space Station, which will be open to all nations, unlike the more restrictive U.S. Artemis program.