Washington doing allies no favors with a chip war

This is an editorial from China Daily.

Japan-based Kyodo News reported on Saturday that the United States had directly asked the Japanese government for cooperation in stymieing China's efforts to develop high-end semiconductors.

The request that it stop exports of chip-making equipment to China by Tokyo Electron Ltd was made by US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo during a telephone conversation with Japanese industry minister, Yasutoshi Nishimura, on Friday, and it is "believed to be the first ministerial one from the United States on the issue".

But that request is by no means the first one made by the US to its allies. On Wednesday, Bloomberg reported the US administration was talking with the Netherlands with the aim of agreeing on a new protocol to stop the Dutch company ASML Holding NV from supplying China with lithography equipment essential for the manufacturing of advanced chips. By pressuring its "friends" Japan and the Netherlands in this way, the US is aiming to create a multilateral framework of export controls targeting China.

But by participating in the US' efforts to prevent China acquiring the latest-generation semiconductors, Japan and the Netherlands will only harm themselves. China won't stand idle watching its companies being blocked from importing chips. There is no reason for Japan and the Netherlands to risk jeopardizing their trade with China at the behest of the US.

By abusing its national power in a bid to maintain its technological hegemony, the US is politicizing and weaponizing technology, with no concern even for the interests of its allies.

China has urged the relevant parties to stay objective and make their own judgments. As a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said, they should proceed on the basis of "their own long-term interests and the fundamental interests of the international community".

When the first ministerial-level conference for the "Indo-Pacific" Economic Framework for Prosperity was held in Los Angeles in September, a Japanese diplomat noted that such efforts to contain China are impractical as China is the largest trading partner of over 100 economies.

China has been Japan's biggest trade partner for 15 years consecutively, and the trade volume between the two countries was $371.4 billion last year, 17.1 percent higher than the year before.

Japan and the Netherlands should not let the US drop stones on their feet just because it is their ally.

If the US can rope its allies into its chip war against China, the world will pay a huge price in lost development opportunities. Countries should keep their own interests and the bigger picture in mind.