US accused of engaging in ‘technological terrorism’
Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on July 6 that the United States is engaging in “technological terrorism” by pushing the Netherlands to ban a company from selling chipmaking technology to China.
“It is another example of the US practice of coercive diplomacy by abusing state power and wielding technological hegemony,” Zhao said, referring to a Bloomberg report that said US officials are lobbying their Dutch counterparts to bar ASML Holding NV from selling to China mainstream technology essential for making a large chunk of the world’s chips.
People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the Dutch government has yet to agree to any additional restrictions on ASML’s exports to Chinese chipmakers, which could hurt the country’s trade ties with China.
Speaking at a regular news briefing in Beijing, Zhao accused the US of repeatedly seeking to politicize and instrumentalize economic and trade issues and imposing “technology blockades” and “technology decoupling” on other countries.
“This will only remind all countries of the risk of being solely dependent on the US in terms of technologies. And it will also prompt them to achieve independence and self-reliance in science and technology at a faster pace,” the spokesman said.
“Those who seek to block others’ way will end up being blocked on their own way,” he added.
Zhao also urged relevant parties to uphold an objective and just position and make independent decisions based on their fundamental and longterm interests.
The US has long been seeking to hamstring competitive Chinese hightech companies under all kinds of trumped-up charges in violation of the principles of fair competition and the market economy, and international trading rules.
According to a document released by the Foreign Ministry in June, the US has placed over 1,000 Chinese companies on various sanctions lists, subjected biotechnology and artificial intelligence technologies to enhanced export controls and stringent investment reviews, and sought to ban Chinese social media platforms including TikTok and WeChat.
Moreover, the ministry urged the US side to stop propagating lies about forced labor and implementing the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, and take concrete actions to create favorable conditions for bilateral cooperation in various fields instead of creating new obstacles.
“The so-called forced labor in Xinjiang is an outrageous lie from the US side to smear and contain China,” Zhao said. “The US’ Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is an extension of this lie and designed to amplify its approach of using Xinjiang to contain China.”
The international community knows what is truly going on. China is not engaged in “forced labor”, but it is facing forced unemployment caused by the US. By accusing China, the US is depriving hundreds of thousands of workers in Xinjiang of their most basic right to work in various sectors.
China is not engaged in “suppression of human rights”, but it is facing a forced return to poverty caused by the US, Zhao said. “What the US has done is taking away the livelihoods of people from all ethnic backgrounds in Xinjiang who have worked really hard to have lifted themselves out of poverty.”
China is not violating international rules, but it is facing forced decoupling and cutting off of international industrial and supply chains caused by the US. It is the US that is destroying international economic and trade rules and destabilizing international industrial and supply chains.
Chandra Muzaffar, president of Malaysian human rights advocacy organization International Movement for a Just World, said, “The way in which this claim has been trotted out gives the impression that it is yet another attempt to target and tarnish China’s international image.”
“The sanctions against China often in the guise of protecting human rights are motivated largely by geopolitical concerns,” he said. “They are actually meant to undermine China’s dramatic but peaceful rise as a world power in the last three decades.”