Since the United States introduced chip export control measures to China in October this year, White House has been deliberately trying to unite its allies to expand the scope of chip export controls to China and use the power of an alliance to strangle China's semiconductor industry. According to the report of " Nihon Keizai Shimbun ", the United States is actively contacting Japan, South Korea and EU , hoping that the other party can cooperate with it. The Kishida government has agreed in principle, but Japan must also judge how much cooperation it should be with the United States. At the same time, the Kishida government is also paying close attention to the attitude of South Korea and the EU on this matter. Most importantly, the Kishida government will fully listen to the opinions of its own companies, because once China's semiconductors are impacted, the demand for Japanese semiconductor-related products will also decrease accordingly. This strategy, which is almost "death together" is the worst result that the Kishida government has tried hard to avoid.
And Japan's latest developments have also attracted the attention of international public opinion. According to a report released by the " Global Times ", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked by reporters at a regular press conference held on the same day how it viewed the United States' demands that Japan and other countries impose restrictions on semiconductor exports on China, and the Japanese government accepted the US proposal and held internal discussions.
spokesperson Zhao Lijian made it clear that the United States continues to abuse export control measures, imposes malicious blockades on Chinese companies, and also coerces allies to participate in the economic suppression of China, which has caused serious damage to the global industrial chain, which is a great damage to the rules of free trade. Zhao Lijian stressed that China will continue to work with the international community to jointly oppose the economic coercion of the United States. China also hopes that relevant countries can stand from the perspective of independence and autonomy based on their long-term interests and the fundamental interests of the international community.
In fact, for the United States today, using this extremely ugly method to suppress Chinese semiconductors just shows that the United States itself can no longer compete with China through normal means. When the world fell into a "chip shortage" last year, companies from all over the world were hoarding chips frantically, and the Biden administration also actively cooperated with the production expansion plans of American chip giants and invested a lot of resources to build a local chip supply chain. However, with the fading of the "chip shortage", overcapacity has become a common problem faced by the semiconductor industry.
At the same time, the consumption recession caused by inflation is rapidly rising, and the global semiconductor industry is trembling under this double suppression. The United States originally hoped to revitalize the US local semiconductor industry through the form of "opening the gate and releasing water", but found that Asia, which accounts for three-quarters of the global chip capabilities, was also saving itself frantically.
It is reported that South Korea has decided to invest US$260 billion in the semiconductor industry in the next five years, and the cautious Kishida government has also decided to invest US$6 billion in order to double its own chip revenue in the next ten years. Not to mention that China's semiconductor strategic investment has never been interrupted, and South Korea is also actively promoting new Chinese factories. In contrast, the United States' chip manufacturing capacity is only 13% globally. Therefore, when the Asian semiconductor industry chain began to collectively save itself, the benefits brought by the semiconductor support policy that Biden has high hopes for, were offset.
In fact, Biden requires Japan, South Korea and the EU to cooperate with their chip export controls to China, which is essentially to weaken the semiconductor industry capabilities of these three parties. As the world's major chip consumer market, once Japan, South Korea and Europe are completely decoupled from the Chinese market, the impact they themselves will suffer will be second only to China. Now the ball has hit the feet of Japan, South Korea and Europe. Whether it is to follow the orders of the United States or make rational and correct judgments from the perspective of its own interests depends entirely on their thoughts, and China will continue to work along its own path to break free from the "black hand" that is pinching the "neck" of the semiconductor industry.
