On Tuesday, local time, the US Department of Commerce announced the final rules for the export control of semiconductors to China, trying to "fill" the so-called "loopholes" around the export restrictions of high-end chips and semiconductor manufacturing equipment to China on the basis of the rules announced last year.

　　In addition to restricting the supply of certain high-end chip products from American chip manufacturers such as AMD and NVIDIA to China enterprises, two China chip design enterprises have also been included in the "control list" by the United States. In addition, some countries that are considered as "at risk of transferring products and equipment to China" also need to obtain export authorization for high-end chips and equipment from the United States.

　　This action of the United States is intended to continuously prevent China from acquiring the cutting-edge technology of the semiconductor industry, and the pretext it is playing is still the "familiar formula" since the Trump era: national security plus human rights. "Our goal is always the same, that is, to limit China’s access to advanced semiconductor technologies, which are likely to promote breakthroughs in the field of artificial intelligence." US Secretary of Commerce Raimondeau said.

　　Supercomputing and cutting-edge chips give artificial intelligence technology a wide range of military applications. Raimondeau said that stricter export restrictions are aimed at controlling such "transformative" technologies.

　　Aside from other things, it is obvious that the United States is making full use of its dominant position in the field of emerging technologies to "get the upper hand" and win this decisive "Sino-US competition" in its eyes. Continued obstruction of China’s access to American technology and equipment is just one of its actions to suppress China’s technological progress, especially in the semiconductor field. All these attempts of the United States are aimed at achieving its ultimate strategic goal, which is to win the competition with China.

　　Biden’s administration has repeatedly stressed that it has no intention to curb China’s economic development. But from now on, the United States has long been doing everything it can. In this regard, the Chinese side pointed out that American enterprises and enterprises from other western countries will also become "direct victims" of the US move. AMD, NVIDIA and ASML must have this understanding. The American Semiconductor Industry Association also said that it is "evaluating the impact" and said: "Too broad unilateral control may damage the American semiconductor ecosystem without promoting national security."

　　The United States continues to generalize relevant concepts and adopt trade control measures, which will not only benefit China and the United States, but will eventually hinder technological development and progress on a global scale. As we all know, emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, have great potential and will greatly change human life. The United States, which always accuses other countries of using technology for "evil", is actually the "culprit" who chooses to use technological advantages to do evil.

　　This article was translated from the October 20th editorial of China Journal.

　　Original title: Washington gives in to its dark side

　　Produced by: Editorial Office of China Daily.

　　Compile: Tu Tian Editor: Li Haipeng

　　[Editor: Tu Tian]