After multiple steps aimed at either truncating the influence of Chinese companies in the US or causing impediments in the country's (China's) path from accessing and therefore upgrading its tech credentials, the US has received a response from the dragon.
As per reports, the Xi Jinping-led Chinese government has proscribed the use of American-made/designed chipsets in government systems in China. The particular names that are emerging are in this story are of AMD and Intel, two of the most consequential companies in the industry.
China's Response To The US
This comes at the back of multiple steps that has been taken by two subsequent US administrations (First under Donald Trump, and then under Joseph Biden), that have tried to tightens the space for China and its companies. From blocking access to advanced technology and restricting its exposure to advancement in the AI boom to most recently putting the status of TikTok in a limbo, the West under the leadership of US has made its belligerent attempts to clamp down on the growing Chinese influence.
According to reports, apart from AMD and Intel, the second largest economy of the world intends to entirely phase out the usage of American chips and critical elements from the governmental paradigm. This, as this directive will also target systems (Windows OS) developed by the most valuable company in the world, Microsoft.
Previously US and many European countries have raised questions against the rectitude of Chinese firms, including tech-giant, Huawei, which apart from being a mobile manufacturer, is also a leading force in producing mobile network apparatus, including equipment for construction of mobile towers. Between 2019 and 2022, these aforementioned countries saw a commercial conundrum turn into a full-blown political rallying point for many in US and Europe.
Chinese Firms Under The Lens
Most recently, in the past few years many governments have also prohibited use of or presence of TikTok on phones of government devices, raising fears of technological infiltration from the Chinese.
In the most recent episode in the TikTok-ByteDance saga, the US House of Representatives, with a Republican majority passed a legislation, that has ordered the parents company, ByteDance to divest from the social media platform or TikTok may face a ban in the US. The Chinese government had criticised the decision. However the US Senate is yet to pass the legislation.
With a second Trump Presidency looming, it only remains to be seen as to where this tangebile 'Tech-Cold War' will take the largest and the second largest economies in the world, along with the globe around it.
