Zhou Xiaoming

Opinion | Why the US is painting China as the big bad tech villain

Washington’s accusations are clearly driven more by its fear of the US losing its tech hegemony than by China overtaking it

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Zhou Xiaoming

Published: 9:30am, 2 Jul 2024Updated: 10:07am, 2 Jul 2024

In a story that took place in the Jin dynasty (266-420), an old woman was robbed. A young man came to her rescue and chased down the robber, who turned around and accused him of being the thief instead. It was late and dark and the old woman could only look from one to the other, confused. Washington, these days, appears to be acting just like the thief, trying to turn things upside down by pointing a finger at others.

For a start, Washington accuses China of seeking world domination. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said, in response to an interview question, that “I think that what it [China] seeks is to be the dominant power in the world militarily, economically, diplomatically.”

Washington also accuses China of trying to dominate the global hi-tech and critical mineral sectors, casting it as an aggressive predator prepared to capitalise on its technological edge to exploit other countries. Last year, Nasa chief Bill Nelson said of China’s moon programme that “it is not beyond the realm of possibility that they say, ‘Keep out, we’re here, this is our territory’”.

But Washington’s narrative of China’s technological domination is far-fetched. In 2017, the year before the Trump administration started its trade war, China’s semiconductor imports exceeded US$260 billion, accounting for over 14 per cent of all imports. Semiconductors were – and remain – China’s largest import by value, exceeding even crude oil, which China is a major importer of.

Given China’s heavy dependence on imported chips and vulnerability to external factors, it’s not, by any standards, on course to dominate the global chip industry.

When it comes to artificial intelligence (AI), the United States has 10 times China’s computing power, according to an executive of a leading Chinese AI firm. China is a long way from catching up with the US, never mind leading the sector.