Tech war: China’s chip reality imitates the drama it inspired as US silicon curtain draws near

In a fictional TV drama, a Chinese private technology firm takes on a state project to make a laser device for a deep ultraviolet lithography machine, equipment which is essential for advanced chip production and currently subject to strict US export restrictions.

The plot thickens when the firm’s boss is detained by a foreign government, and his wife – who has taken temporary control of the business – says the enterprise is on the brink of collapse.

Although the company’s chief researcher is tempted to cash out and make a quick market profit, the company’s management presses ahead. The wife remortgages her home to raise funds and sells equity stakes, while the research team continues to overcome technical difficulties.

Without giving away the entire plot, due to internet leaks we know there is a happy ending to the drama, entitled The Best Chip, or My China Chip. The 24-episode production was originally scheduled to run on Chinese video streaming site Youku on July 10 but its release was postponed at the last minute due to “scheduling adjustments”.

However, the leaked photos and plot giveaways have invited much online derision, as most netizens are aware that far from a ‘happy ever after’ scenario, the country currently finds itself on the hard side of a technology war with the US, a battle that is casting a shadow over its national rejuvenation ambitions.

As the US and its allies have escalated chip export restrictions on China, Beijing has been forced to respond with calculated retaliatory measures in place of the usual chest-thumping. These include a sales ban on certain products from memory chip maker Micron and restrictions on the export of rare earth metals gallium and germanium, critical to the manufacture of semiconductors.