U.S. Blacklists Chinese Supercomputer Groups, Beijing Vows to Retaliate
LONDON (Dispatches) - The U.S. has blacklisted seven Chinese groups it accuses of building supercomputers to help its military.
It is the first move by the Biden administration to make it harder for China to obtain U.S. technology
On Thursday, three companies and four branches of China’s National Supercomputing Center were added to the U.S. blacklist.
This bars American companies from exporting technology to the groups without proper approval.
Beijing slammed the U.S. for blacklisting its supercomputing firms, as Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian promised to take the necessary steps in order to protect Chinese businesses from Washington’s sanctions.
The U.S. commerce department said the groups were involved in building supercomputers used by Chinese "military actors” and facilitating programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The sanctioned groups are leading China’s supercomputing development and are key players in Beijing’s plan for chip self-sufficiency.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Biden administration would use "the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging U.S. technologies to support these destabilizing military modernization efforts”.
The decision became just another step in a chain of escalating tensions between the two nations, as Washington named China "the only competitor” potentially capable of destabilising the global system last month.
The Trump administration had also targeted dozens of Chinese companies it suspected of using American technology for military uses, including phonemaker Huawei.
Biden’s move requires the seven Chinese groups to obtain licenses to access American technologies, including chip infrastructures designed by Intel and other U.S chipmakers.
While the blacklist bars U.S.-based companies from providing services and products to the Chinese firms, it doesn’t bar those that are produced in facilities outside of the U.S.
One such company is TSMC, the Taiwan-based company that has become the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturer.
Supercomputers have a considerably higher level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer and can make billions of calculations per second.
Supercomputers are made up of thousands of connected processors and are used for functions like forecasting weather and climate trends, simulating nuclear tests and for pharmaceutical research.
They are also necessary for the development of advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
"Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many - perhaps almost all - modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons,” Ms Raimondo added.
Supercomputers have a considerably higher level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer and can make billions of calculations per second.
It is the first move by the Biden administration to make it harder for China to obtain U.S. technology
On Thursday, three companies and four branches of China’s National Supercomputing Center were added to the U.S. blacklist.
This bars American companies from exporting technology to the groups without proper approval.
Beijing slammed the U.S. for blacklisting its supercomputing firms, as Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian promised to take the necessary steps in order to protect Chinese businesses from Washington’s sanctions.
The U.S. commerce department said the groups were involved in building supercomputers used by Chinese "military actors” and facilitating programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The sanctioned groups are leading China’s supercomputing development and are key players in Beijing’s plan for chip self-sufficiency.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said the Biden administration would use "the full extent of its authorities to prevent China from leveraging U.S. technologies to support these destabilizing military modernization efforts”.
The decision became just another step in a chain of escalating tensions between the two nations, as Washington named China "the only competitor” potentially capable of destabilising the global system last month.
The Trump administration had also targeted dozens of Chinese companies it suspected of using American technology for military uses, including phonemaker Huawei.
Biden’s move requires the seven Chinese groups to obtain licenses to access American technologies, including chip infrastructures designed by Intel and other U.S chipmakers.
While the blacklist bars U.S.-based companies from providing services and products to the Chinese firms, it doesn’t bar those that are produced in facilities outside of the U.S.
One such company is TSMC, the Taiwan-based company that has become the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturer.
Supercomputers have a considerably higher level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer and can make billions of calculations per second.
Supercomputers are made up of thousands of connected processors and are used for functions like forecasting weather and climate trends, simulating nuclear tests and for pharmaceutical research.
They are also necessary for the development of advanced weapons such as hypersonic missiles.
"Supercomputing capabilities are vital for the development of many - perhaps almost all - modern weapons and national security systems, such as nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons,” Ms Raimondo added.
Supercomputers have a considerably higher level of performance compared to a general-purpose computer and can make billions of calculations per second.