China under technological pressure from Washington

Published on : 06/09/2021 – 6:24 PM

Washington wants to put close to $ 250 billion on the table to finance its technological war against China. The Senate approved by an overwhelming majority, Tuesday, June 8, a vast bill to remain “competitive” in the 21st century, by investing heavily in cutting-edge technologies while trying to slow down Beijing’s efforts to catch up, or even overtake the United States.

“Do we want the world of tomorrow, shaped by those who will master the technologies of the future, to reflect our democratic vision or are we going to leave an authoritarian model like the one advocated by Xi Jinping? [le président chinois] win? ”said Chuck Summer, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate. “We are engaged in a competition to win the 21st century and the start has been given,” added Joe Biden, the US president.

Semiconductors, maximum stake

This very aggressive tone greatly displeased the Chinese officials, who were quick to express their “deep indignation”. “We resolutely denounce this American view of China as an enemy,” said Wang Wenbin, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, interviewed by Reuters.

Beijing also has reason to be upset with the content of the US plan. Particularly through the commitment to release $ 54 billion to develop the American semiconductor industry. The current shortage of these chips which impacts a wide range of sectors – from the automotive industry to the manufacture of washing machines, smartphones or even electronic toothbrushes – has amply demonstrated their crucial role in the global trade chain. .

But it has also become a major issue in the economic clash between China and the United States. “These semiconductors are essential for the equipment necessary for the deployment of 5G; and the control of this technology at the heart of applications such as connected cities, electronic cars or even artificial intelligence, is one of the main battlefields between Washington and Beijing ”, recalls Mary-Françoise Renard, specialist in Chinese economy at Clermont Auvergne University, contacted by France 24.

For now, China remains very dependent on American know-how in this field and must, in addition, import these chips from countries allied to Washington, such as Taiwan and South Korea. Beijing has decided in recent years to invest in this sector, but the American announcement “probably means that China will have to devote even more money to it if it is to hope one day to catch up and gain some independence in this regard. ”, Explains Zeno Leoni, specialist in Sino-American relations at King’s College London, contacted by France 24.

The plan voted by the Senate also includes provisions to counter certain Chinese companies in particular. The text thus plans to no longer import drones built by Chinese groups “having a link with the military sector”, and wants to prohibit members of the American administration from downloading TikTok, the social network created in China which is all the rage among younger.

Provisions that may seem anecdotal, but “it is a clear signal sent to Beijing to make it understand that the time of vexatious measures against Chinese companies were not an anomaly of the Trump era”, underlines Andrew Small, specialist of Chinese foreign policy at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, contacted by France 24.

The returning state as “in the days of the cold war”

Beyond its content, the very existence of this text and its general philosophy represent a threat to China. The Chinese authorities “could hope that the strong political polarization in the United States would complicate the adoption of any major text, but the large majority which supported this plan shows that on the question of competition with China, there is a bipartisan consensus, ”notes Andrew Small.

It is all the more significant since this bill illustrates a change in attitude of the United States in its approach to counter China. “Until now, Washington had adopted a reactionary strategy of punctually sanctioning companies or setting up customs barriers. With this plan, the United States enters into a more proactive logic where the State is more involved in defining which strategic sectors to support – such as quantum computers, artificial intelligence, automation ”, summarizes Zeno Leoni. .

“We have not seen the American state become so involved in defining priority technological sectors since the days of the Cold War,” says Andrew Small. For Mary-Françoise Renard, “in many ways, this program resembles an American version of the ‘Made in China 2025’ plan which in 2015 established Beijing’s roadmap to become the world leader in the technological field”.

Beijing therefore finds itself faced with a new reality in which the American superpower in a way copies the Chinese interventionist model to increase its technological advantage and limit the access of Chinese companies to its innovations. In short, “this means that more than ever, China will have to invest so that the technology it needs is Chinese”, summarizes Mary-Françoise Renard.

From a financial point of view, this is not a problem since Beijing’s pockets are deeper than those of any other country. “But it also means that China will have to train more personnel to carry out the necessary basic research, and this is not won, because it has some catching up to do and it is not the most attractive sector in terms of remuneration for young researchers ”, notes the expert from Clermont Auvergne University.

In the short term, this new American strategy to counter China therefore risks penalizing Beijing in this technological race. But if the Asian superpower succeeds in adapting to it, “it may benefit it in the longer term as it is forced to accelerate its process of economic transformation to become technologically independent”, concludes Zeno Leoni.