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

02/07/2024

Illustration: Craig Stephens

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'".

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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.

To say that China wants to dominate AI globally amounts to claiming that a country that has yet to qualify at the regional level has a real chance of winning an Olympics gold medal. Despite this, the Biden administration has made AI the focus of its tech war with China and started a tech blockade on advanced chips supplied to the country.

It is reasonable to believe that Washington's accusation is driven more by its fear of the US losing its tech hegemony than by China overtaking it. As US national security adviser Jack Sullivan said at a 2022 tech meeting: "Given the foundational nature of certain technologies, such as advanced logic and memory chips, we must maintain as large of a lead as possible."

Washington sees China's advances in innovation and technology as a threat to its tech dominance. Its narrative of China's tech domination ambition is useful as a justification of its incessant and ferocious attacks on China. It is also useful in whipping up concerns and trepidation among US allies as a way of rallying support for the stymieing of China's tech development.

Washington knows well the power of technological domination. In 1993, the US accused Chinese cargo ship Yinhe of carrying chemical weapons ingredients and forced it to submit to a search. The US allegedly jammed the ship's GPS (global positioning system), preventing it from navigating. More recently, Huawei Technologies was forced to sell its XFusion server business after Trump administration sanctions cut off its supply of Intel x86 chips.

Earlier this year, US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said in an interview: "We don't want to live in a world where the Chinese are the dominant country." Or where, it seems, any country other than the US dominates. Recall how Japan was on the receiving end of Uncle Sam's wrath in the 1980s when it threatened to overtake the US in the car and chip sectors.

True, China has made huge investments in technological development and innovation over the decades. For instance, its annual research and development expenditure is now bigger than the European Union's. As a result, China has made huge strides in its technological development and innovation, and has in recent years started to emerge as an important force in sectors such as robotics, AI and quantum technology.

But technological domination has never been - and will never be - China's goal. China is sharing its technologies and innovations with others. For example, it makes available technologies like 5G networks, cloud computing, data analytics and AI to African countries.

China's technological advancement in the clean energy sector also contributes to the global transition to a green economy. The falling cost of Chinese-made solar panels has accelerated their installation in the rest of the world, including across Europe. China's electric vehicles are also playing a significant role in helping the world meet the zero emissions target.

But by bringing such benefits to the world, China erodes the monopolistic power of Western multinationals. China's technological breakthroughs and manufacturing prowess mean that these companies can no longer charge high prices for their products and services.

The Chinese story I related at the start has a happy ending. The thief and the young man who caught him were brought before a local official, who ordered them to a race. The thief was not as fast, which was how he was caught in the first place. The official thus identified the criminal and justice was done. Washington, too, may soon find that duplicitous behaviour always catches up with one. Thief crying "thief" may work, but only for so long.

Zhou Xiaoming is a senior fellow at the Centre for China and Globalisation in Beijing and a former deputy representative of China's Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva

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