{"id":2026185,"date":"2023-09-08T17:36:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T21:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-commerce-department-vows-to-protect-national-security-amid-huawei-chip-breakthrough\/"},"modified":"2023-09-08T17:40:31","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T21:40:31","slug":"us-commerce-department-vows-to-protect-national-security-amid-huawei-chip-breakthrough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-commerce-department-vows-to-protect-national-security-amid-huawei-chip-breakthrough\/","title":{"rendered":"US Commerce Dept. pledges to safeguard national security amidst Huawei chip advancement."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fus-commerce-department-vows-to-protect-national-security-amid-huawei-chip-breakthrough%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2026185&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>The U.S. Department of Commerce is determined to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/republicans-slam-psakis-space-force-slight\/\" title=\"Republicans Slam Psaki\u2019s Space Force Slight\">safeguard national security<\/a> following China&#8217;s reported \u2062breakthrough in manufacturing a 7-nanometer chip without access to advanced equipment.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s be clear: export controls are just one tool in the U.S. government&#8217;s toolbox to address the national security \u2063threats presented by the PRC. The restrictions in place since 2019 have knocked Huawei down and forced it\u2063 to reinvent itself\u2014at a substantial cost to the PRC government,&#8221; a Commerce Department spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement, using\u200b the\u200d acronym \u200cfor the regime&#8217;s official name,\u200d the People&#8217;s Republic of China.<\/p>\n<p>The spokesperson added that the\u2064 department is working on obtaining the &#8220;character and composition&#8221; of the purported 7-nanometer chip.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\" id=\"in_article_related_stories\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Story<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/new-us-ban-on-china-tech-investment-slow-to-develop-but-shows-promise-experts-5460378\">New US Ban on China Tech Investment Slow to Develop, Shows Promise: Experts<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">8\/11\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/new-us-ban-on-china-tech-investment-slow-to-develop-but-shows-promise-experts-5460378\"><\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;We are continually working to assess and, when appropriate, update our controls based on the \u200cdynamic threat environment, and we will not hesitate to take appropriate action to protect U.S. national security,&#8221; the spokesperson\u200d said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    During Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo&#8217;s visit to China last week, Huawei Technologies Co. launched a new smartphone model. Although Huawei has been mum about technical specs,\u2064 teardowns by research\u200d firm <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techinsights.com\/blog\/techinsights-confirming-smic-n2-7nm-huawei-mate-60-pro?mod=djem_b_barronstech0906\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TechInsights<\/a> confirmed that Huawei&#8217;s Mate 60 Pro\u200c uses a 7-nm chip made by state-backed \u200cSemiconductor Manufacturing International\u200d Corporation (SMIC), China&#8217;s largest chip maker.\n  <\/div>\n<p>China hailed Huawei&#8217;s latest move as a &#8220;triumphant return&#8221; and a\u200c defeat of U.S. export controls.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode post-related-videos\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>A chip by \u200dTaiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is \u200cseen at the 2020 World Semiconductor Conference in Nanjing in China&#8217;s eastern Jiangsu province on August 26, 2020. (Photo by STR \/ AFP) \/ China OUT (Photo\u2064 by\u200b STR\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>A Blow to the US?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>    \u2064 Since the Trump administration, the United States \u2064has sought to curb China&#8217;s access to\u200d advanced chip manufacturing capabilities, a key driver for Chinese communist leader Xi Jinping&#8217;s plans for military and economic \u2064dominance.\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<p>News of China&#8217;s success at the 7-nanometer level, an indicator of computing power, has been considered by some as a\u200c shock and heavy blow to the United\u200d States.<\/p>\n<p>But others say the fanfare is overrated. After\u200b all, China broke the \u200d7-nanometer barrier five years\u200c after the global leader, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC has achieved\u2062 mass production of 3-nanometer chips\u2014the world&#8217;s most advanced chip. The new iPhone 15 to be released later this month is widely expected to be the first adopter of this chip.<\/p>\n<p>Ray Yang, a semiconductor industry veteran and a director at the Industrial Technology Research Institute \u200c(ITRI), \u200ban influential think tank in Taiwan, is one of them.<\/p>\n<p>While a 7-nanometer chip is a milestone achievement, without access to advanced equipment\u200d and process technology, Huawei&#8217;s development will stall, Mr. Yang \u200btold The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>He said that new developments will keep \u2063happening as Apple and Huawei&#8217;s domestic competitors\u200b using American Qualcomm chips progress to faster\u2064 and more powerful chips.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But Huawei will stop at 7-nanometer. There&#8217;s no hope of any progression,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>China found a replacement for a blocked technology, said James Lewis, the director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. This is a \u2062natural response to export controls, he said, and it doesn&#8217;t mean that U.S. export controls \u200chave failed.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They are not realizing that \u200c [export controls] have a shelf life,&#8221; Mr. Lewis told The Epoch Times, referring to those opining that\u2062 Huawei&#8217;s new chip represents a blow to\u200d U.S. efforts\u2063 to block the technology.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Export controls are really effective for the first couple of years. And then people figure out how to get around them.&#8221; He\u2063 likened the dynamic to that of a tennis game.<\/p>\n<p>In this case, \u200che said Huawei was quick \u2062to hit the ball back. &#8220;Given how interconnected the economies are, life is much shorter than it used to be.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width:600px\" class=\"alignnone\"><figcaption>Employees are seen working on the final assembly of ASML&#8217;s TWINSCAN\u200c NXE:3400B semiconductor lithography tool with its panels removed, in Veldhoven, Netherlands, on April 4, 2019. (Bart van Overbeeke Fotografie\/ASML\/Handout via Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<h2><strong>Intellectual Property Theft Suspected<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>    \u2062 China making 7-nanometer\u200c chips is not new. In July 2022, SMIC <a href=\"https:\/\/asiatimes.com\/2022\/07\/smics-7-nm-chip-process-a-wake-up-call-for-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">manufactured<\/a> 7-nanometer\u200b Bitcoin mining chips. The latest smartphone chip is more sophisticated than that.<br \/>\n  \u200b\n  <\/div>\n<p>Mr. Yang believes that SMIC used a deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography chipmaking machine, which was not under export controls until this year and is\u200c capable of making 7-nanometer chips, to make the chip for Huawei.<\/p>\n<p>As the\u2063 principal investigator of a semiconductor cross-disciplinary group for Taiwan&#8217;s chief science agency, Mr. \u2063Yang \u2064follows\u2063 global \u2063patents closely.<\/p>\n<p>He highly suspects that some intellectual\u2064 property infringement was involved in\u200c the process technology SMIC \u200bused \u2062to produce \u2064the 7-nanometer chip. One way to verify this theory, he said, is to see whether Huawei would export its new smartphone model to Europe and the United States. If the technology was stolen and Huawei were to export the new phone, it would incur significant legal risks.<\/p>\n<p>Mr.\u2064 Lewis also \u2062said he wouldn&#8217;t be surprised if SMIC achieved the latest 7-nanometer chips through industrial espionage.<\/p>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    &#8220;China \u2063is very aggressive\u200d in its spying, and they are probably the most aggressive in the world when it comes to stealing technology,&#8221; he said. &#8220;So [it&#8217;s] not a complete surprise.&#8221;\n  <\/p><\/div>\n<h2><strong>Nowhere to Go<\/strong><\/h2>\n<div class=\"my-5\">\n<p>    Without access to extreme ultraviolet lithography\u2063 (EUV) machines, the\u200b world&#8217;s most <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-commerce-department-vows-to-protect-national-security-amid-huawei-chip-breakthrough\/\" title=\"US Commerce Dept. pledges to safeguard national security amidst Huawei chip advancement.\">advanced chip-making\u2064 equipment manufactured \u2064exclusively<\/a> by ASML, China&#8217;s next step to 5-nanometer chips will be much more difficult.\u200b The export of this technology to China has been restricted since 2019.\n  <\/div>\n<p>Mr. Yang said the Chinese Communist\u2063 Party (CCP) will continue to \u200ctry to manufacture 5-nanometer and 3-nanometer chips with DUV \u200dequipment, as their access to the higher-grade \u200dEUV systems is blocked.<\/p>\n<p>The expert likened the chip race \u200cto a mountaineering race. Those with advanced oxygen tanks, tents, and \u200dother equipment can\u200b safely reach the summit and return. \u200dThe \u2063success rate\u200d for those \u200bwithout proper equipment would be much lower,\u2062 making the exercise commercially unsustainable.<\/p>\n<p>According\u200c to him, the yield rate\u2014the proportion of quality \u200cchips out\u2063 of all chips cut from\u2064 a silicon wafer\u2014for DUV-made 5-nanometer chips could be as low as 10 to 20 percent. The yield rate for DUV-made 3-nanometer chips might be zero.<\/p>\n<p>But such low yield rates\u200b won&#8217;t deter the CCP, given its thirst for advanced chips for military applications. Mr. Yang expects the regime to continue \u200dto try to manufacture 5-nanometer chips, which are necessary for a range of military technology, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/4-hostile-regimes-testing-joe-biden-during-his-first-months-in-office\/\" title=\"4 Hostile Regimes Testing Joe Biden During His First Months In Office\">including fighter jet<\/a>\u2063 com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The US Department of Commerce is committed to safeguarding national security after China&#8217;s alleged achievement of producing a 7-nanometer chip without advanced equipment. Export controls are among the measures employed by the US government to counter the security risks posed by China. Existing restrictions serve this purpose effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":2026186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2026185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2026185"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2026185\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2026186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2026185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2026185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2026185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}