THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 9, 2021 at 16:22 JST
In this Feb. 22 file photo, a woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus sits near a screen showing China and U.S. flags as she listens to a speech by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Lanting Forum on bringing China-U.S. relations back to the right track, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing. (AP Photo)
BEIJING--The Biden administration has added seven Chinese supercomputer research labs and manufacturers to a U.S. export blacklist in a spreading conflict with Beijing over technology and security.
The measure announced Thursday is the latest sign President Joe Biden is sticking to the tough line taken by his predecessor, Donald Trump, toward Chinese tech industries seen by Washington as potential threats.
The decision adds to mounting conflict over the ruling Communist Party’s industrial plans, access to American technology and accusations of computer attacks and theft of business secrets.
The latest penalties block access to U.S. technology for researchers and manufacturers the Commerce Department said build supercomputers used by the Chinese military in weapons development.
Biden has said he wants better relations with Beijing but has given no indication he will roll back sanctions imposed by Trump on Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei and other companies.
The Communist Party has responded by declaring that accelerating efforts to transform China into a self-reliant “technology power” will be this year’s top economic priority.
Chinese-designed supercomputers have set records for speed but are assembled from U.S.-supplied processor chips and other hardware. They can be used in weapons development by simulating nuclear explosions and the aerodynamics of high-speed or stealth aircraft and missiles.
The latest U.S. penalties affect National Supercomputing Centers in the cities of Jinan, Shenzhen, Wuxi and Zhengzhou, Tianjin Phytium Information Technology, Shanghai High-Performance Integrated Circuit Design Center and Sunway Microelectronics.
Meanwhile, American telecom regulators are in the process of stripping three Chinese phone carriers of the right to operate in the United States.
Trump also tried to force the Chinese owner of video service TikTok to sell its U.S. unit and issued an order barring Americans from investing in securities of companies deemed by the Pentagon to be linked to China’s military.
Trump widens U.S. ban on Chinese apps as his term nears end
January 6, 2021
Under Biden, China faces renewed trade pressure
January 26, 2021
China cuts taxes to spur semiconductor development
March 29, 2021
S&P DJ removing Chinese companies from index after U.S. order
December 11, 2020
Trump spy chief labels China biggest threat to freedom since World War Two
December 4, 2020
China urges U.S. to lift trade restrictions, stop interference
February 22, 2021
Here is a collection of first-hand accounts by “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors.
A peek through the music industry’s curtain at the producers who harnessed social media to help their idols go global.
Cooking experts, chefs and others involved in the field of food introduce their special recipes intertwined with their paths in life.
A series based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry
A series about Japanese-Americans and their memories of World War II
