Editorial | US-China rivalry creating more hurdles to cooperation on vital technology
- With competition throwing up market barriers, industry players in Hong Kong and around the world must do their best to keep lines of international communication as open as possible
Another round of US measures meant to counter China’s technological and military rise has been put in place. It was disappointing to see the Washington-Beijing rivalry translate into more obstacles to international cooperation on technology that holds promise for improving lives globally.
The move, which follows semiconductor technology export controls imposed last October, was to close “loopholes” that allowed access to advanced chips and chipmaking tools including for artificial intelligence (AI).
US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo insisted on Tuesday that the controls “focus on military applications” and “threats to our national security”, reiterating fears of a “military-civil fusion strategy”.
The updated controls ban the export of China-specific Nvidia and Intel graphic processing units (GPUs). After last year’s ban, Nvidia started offering tailor-made, less-powerful alternatives to its Chinese clients. The timing of the US announcement is worth noting, coming just weeks before the Apec leaders’ summit in San Francisco. Officials on both sides still hope to arrange a long-overdue meeting between US President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping. AI is emerging as a key area of competition with each side racing to set global rules and standards.
As the US chip measures were unveiled, Xi was welcoming world leaders to Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, marking the 10-year anniversary of its flagship outbound investment plan. China proposed a Global AI Governance Initiative framework for artificial intelligence, calling for “equal rights” on development regardless of a country’s political systems.
