China presses Dutch minister for access to chipmaking tech blocked on security grounds
China’s foreign minister has pressed his Dutch counterpart for access to advanced chipmaking technology that has been blocked on security grounds and warned against allowing what he said were unfounded fears of Beijing to spoil relations
BEIJING (AP) — China’s foreign minister pressed his Dutch counterpart Tuesday for access to advanced chipmaking technology that has been blocked on security grounds and warned against allowing what he said were unfounded fears of Beijing to spoil relations.
Chinese frustration with curbs imposed by the Netherlands, Washington and Japan on chip technology has added to political strains at a time when Beijing is threatening to attack Taiwan and is increasingly assertive toward other Asian neighbors.
There was no indication the Netherlands changed its restriction on the supply of lithography machines available only from a single Dutch company that use ultraviolet light to etch tiny circuits on next-generation processor chips. Lack of that tool is holding back Chinese efforts to develop chips for smartphones, artificial intelligence and other advanced applications.
“As for the issue of lithography machines, China has serious concerns about this,” Qin Gang said at a joint news conference. “We should work together to jointly protect the normal trade order between us, the international trade rules and to jointly keep the global industrial and supply chains stable.”
