News on China's scientific and technological development.

Trump Contradicts Advisers on China Technology Fears

The president, in a series of tweets, said the U.S. would not restrict sales to the country, a sharp shift in administration policy.


WASHINGTON — President Trump publicly objected to efforts within his own administration to restrict the sales of American technology to China over national security concerns, insisting on Tuesday that such fears were an “excuse” and that the United States was open for business.

Mr. Trump’s comments appeared to represent a striking reversal of his administration’s aspirations to curb China’s ascent as a global leader in technology and came as cabinet officials were expected to discuss tougher restrictions on China later this month.

That meeting, set for Feb. 28, was expected to include a discussion about whether to halt sales to China of an aircraft engine produced in part by General Electric by blocking its license to export the technology. Officials were also expected to consider new rules that would further curtail the ability of Huawei, the Chinese telecom giant, to have access to American technology, including semiconductors.

But on Tuesday, Mr. Trump seemed to pre-emptively scuttle such moves. Two people familiar with the matter said that the late February meeting was on hold and that the U.S. would not block G.E.’s ability to sell jet engine parts to China.

Read more

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

FriedRiceNSpice said:

Chain should also be fairly secure if TSMC is doing the fab work.

Click to expand...

The 7-nanometer process requires Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography, which etches billions of transistors onto the chip’s surface. The denser chips provide 20% more processing capacity with lower power consumption than older chips. In 2020, TSMC promises to introduce 6-nanometer chips with yet another 20% gain in efficiency.
...
Speaking on background, a senior Huawei executive said, “We, as do others, have plans to produce chips below 7 nanometers, to 5 and below over the course of several years. This is clearly the direction of all chipmakers. The important thing isn’t who gets there first, as long as you have your own independent capability.”

There are several technologies that can produce 7-nanometer and under chips, but the most promising is extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), now employed by TSMC as well as Samsung, the second-largest chip producer.

Although American companies like LAM Research and Applied Materials are the largest providers of chip-making equipment, the only producer of EUV lithography equipment is the Dutch firm ASML. Last year the United States persuaded the Netherlands to delay the sale of EUV equipment to China’s SMIC, but Taiwan’s TSMC has already purchased 30 lithography machines from ASML. Presumably, chips manufactured by TSMC for Huawei using Dutch equipment would not be subject to American controls.

Click to expand...

Key Pentagon official to resign at Trump's request amid Huawei trade spat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A key Pentagon official said on Wednesday he would leave his post at President Donald Trump’s request, according to a copy of his resignation letter seen by Reuters, after a battle between government agencies over a bid to crack down on exports to China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.


John Rood, the under secretary of defence for policy, will step down from the Pentagon’s No. 3 job at the end of the month, the Department of Defence said separately in a statement, without offering a reason.

“Mr. President, It’s my understanding...that you requested my resignation,” Rood wrote in the letter, thanking Trump for the privilege of serving and listing key policy achievements, including focusing the DOD “on the growing threat from China.”

The announcement comes a day after Trump pushed back against a move by some officials in key U.S. federal agencies to further limit exports to China, saying national security concerns should not be used as an excuse to stymie sales by U.S. companies abroad.

One of the measures floated involved expanding the government’s ability to block exports to telecom equipment giant Huawei, which was placed on a trade blacklist last year over national security concerns.

Rood was instrumental in reversing the Pentagon’s initial opposition to that measure, proposed by the Commerce Department, which would have expanded the scope of items made abroad that the U.S. could have blocked from being sold to Huawei, sources familiar with the matter said.

Rood made headlines last year when a letter he wrote to Congress surfaced, certifying that Ukraine had made enough progress on anti-corruption reforms to receive million of dollars in security assistance, as required by law.

The certification undercut Trump’s argument in an impeachment probe against him that he had sought to withhold aid to Ukraine due to rampant graft there, and not to pressure Ukrainian leaders to investigate political rival Joe Biden, as alleged by House Democrats.

The House voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress over the matter in December, but he was acquitted by the Republican-held Senate earlier this month.

Following Trump’s acquittal, the White House moved quickly to oust key officials whose testimony was seen as hurting his case, including ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland and National Security Council staffer Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman.

On Wednesday, Trump thanked Rood in a Twitter post for his service to the country and said he wished “him well in his future endeavours.”

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

Chish said:

Funny how things turn out in the Trump Administration. First the Tech Companies and Pentagon seek Trump to section chinese tech companies for being naughty and a security threat. So Trump put them on the entity list.
Then US tech companies objected and Pentagon objected to further sanctions as it is hurting American interests.
Then Pentagon turn around and ask of more sanctions on China.
This timeround, Trump defended high tech trade with China and fired Pentagon hightest personel in the Whitehouse for arguing for more sanctions on a list of high tech industries which Trump said are rediculous and have nothing to do with National Security.
While at the same time US Defence Secretary Mark Esper is telling Allies that China is the main adversary and they are not to allow Huawei to built up their 5G otherwise they would risk their intelligent co-operations and sharing with the US.
What is going on there?

Click to expand...

Chish said:

Funny how things turn out in the Trump Administration. First the Tech Companies and Pentagon seek Trump to section chinese tech companies for being naughty and a security threat. So Trump put them on the entity list.
Then US tech companies objected and Pentagon objected to further sanctions as it is hurting American interests.
Then Pentagon turn around and ask of more sanctions on China.
This timeround, Trump defended high tech trade with China and fired Pentagon hightest personel in the Whitehouse for arguing for more sanctions on a list of high tech industries which Trump said are rediculous and have nothing to do with National Security.
While at the same time US Defence Secretary Mark Esper is telling Allies that China is the main adversary and they are not to allow Huawei to built up their 5G otherwise they would risk their intelligent co-operations and sharing with the US.
What is going on there?

Click to expand...

Quickie said:

The Trump bunch is playing a reality show for the world.

In a reality show, the emphasis is placed on entertainment value rather than the real substance.

Click to expand...