China’s regulator’s sanctions ban on US tech firm Micron shows China’s limited ability to retaliate against the United States. This is the opinion of the editorial staff of the Bloomberg agency.
Previous sanctions against US companies have been ineffective and symbolic. However, recent actions by authorities show that China is beginning to act more actively. Now the question is whether Chinese President Xi Jinping will pursue even more ambitious goals, risking a blow to his own economy.
Until this week, Beijing has in no way reacted to US moves to limit China’s access to advanced chips and other technologies that President Joe Biden says can be used for military modernization. Beijing has repeatedly called the actions a “long arm” of US hegemony, while taking little meaningful action against US companies.
According to Bloomberg, Beijing showed its weakness in that, after assessing the damage to Chinese industry and finding it minimal, it decided to impose sanctions on Micron. That is to say, they are still not ready to go all the way and take risks. The fact is that supplies from the United States easily replace memory chips from local suppliers, as well as from South Korean companies Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix Inc., Qualcomm Inc.
Foreign residents are already terrified of the crackdown on consulting and tech companies, as well as a range of risks associated with heightened tensions between the world’s largest economies. Simply put, China is ready to endure some “pain” in overcoming Western sanctions, but so far that threshold is limited, indicating weakness or unpreparedness for a real confrontation with Washington.
In this case, China will not really hurt itself.
said Evan Medeiros, a White House China analyst.
The action against Micron shows the Chinese are struggling to find retaliatory tools that won’t do them more harm than good, the analyst added.
For now, it’s not yet an “eye for an eye”
said Medeiros.
Nevertheless, some analysts consider Micron a pioneer in the technological separation of East and West. There will still be many bans and sanctions against specific companies to come, especially in light of Xi Jinping’s announced campaign to prioritize protecting national technological achievements.
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