Beijing has condemned the latest efforts by US lawmakers to curb Chinese access to leading semiconductor chips and chipmaking equipment, warning that they would lead to “arbitrary disruption and damage” to global supply chains.
The stark assessment followed reports on Tuesday that three major export control bills targeting China – the AI Overwatch Act, the Match Act and the Chip Security Act – are set to be folded into the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) in the US Senate, the annual defence policy bill passed by the US Congress, marking a significant escalation in US-China tech competition.
Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said in a statement that, while the NDAA is a US domestic bill, Beijing nonetheless “firmly reject[s] inserting negative content about China into the draft legislation”.
“The global industrial and supply chains come into shape as a result of both the law of the market and the choices of businesses,” he said. “Arbitrary disruption and damage to the global industrial and supply chains serves no one’s interest and to do so will receive no support.”
“The US should stop politicising, weaponising and ideologising economic, trade and sci-tech issues, stop blocking and hobbling Chinese companies, respect the law of the market economy and free trade rules, and defend the security and stability of global industrial and supply chains.”
Introduced in both the House and the Senate over the past year, the three bipartisan bills represent efforts by the US legislative branch to ramp up US tech restrictions on China, at a time when the Trump administration has loosened some of those restrictions such as allowing Nvidia H200s to be sold to China.
The addition of the bills to the NDAA has been well-received by China hawks who have long called for the legislative vehicle to be used, as the annual defence bill is seen as a “must-pass” legislation that has been enacted every year for more than six decades.
“America is the world’s leader in AI, but that leadership is at risk if we allow competitors like China to access our most advanced AI chips and semiconductor equipment,” Brad Carson, president of AI policy think tank Americans for Responsible Innovation, said in a statement.
“Passing the AI Overwatch Act, Chip Security Act, and Match Act would provide the federal government with the necessary tools and mechanisms to strongly counter foreign actors trying, legally and illegally, to acquire the American technology needed to outpace US innovation.”
Nonetheless, there are signs that the NDAA currently before Congress may not enjoy as smooth a ride as it has had in previous years.
On Tuesday, Democrats in the Senate blocked debate on the NDAA over objections to the ongoing US-Iran war, though expectations are that the bill will be enacted by the end of the year.
Still, it remains unclear whether the export control provisions will survive negotiations over the NDAA in the months ahead before a final vote.
The proposed restrictions have also drawn concern from allies such as the Netherlands, whose chipmaking equipment exports to China would be affected. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
