Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The US restriction and suppression cannot stop China's development and only serves to strengthen its determination and ability to be more self-reliant and technologically innovative, Mao Ning, the spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday, in responding to the US increasing attempts to "decouple" with China over technology and supply chains.

Increased suppression by the US has triggered concerns even among some US industry players and experts who believe it is working opposite to its original purpose. 

According to Financial Times, Microsoft founder Bill Gates said on Thursday that the US won't be successful at preventing China from having great chips.

Gates did not see much sense in restricting chip sales to China, as China will be able to catch up with the US rather quickly, and expressed his desire for Washington and Beijing to cooperate more closely with each other, media reported.

In a recent event, Bain & Co partner Jue Wang also said that instead of walking away from China, US companies are thinking about how they can "walk the tightrope" to hold on to the Chinese market for as long as they can, the South China Morning Post reported.

"We have noticed that since the US launched the 'CHIPS and Science Act," many American business organizations and people have raised concerns and doubts. They pointed out that the US semiconductor industry is highly dependent on the global supply chain," Mao said, adding that decoupling not only violates the laws of industrial development, but also imposes enormous economic and technological costs on the US.

The CHIPS and Science Act that signed into law in August last year is one of the US latest attempts to reverse the globalization and disrupt the world supply chain, drawing wide concerns among world industry insiders including the US.

Mao said that while it is understandable that the US hopes to maintain its global leadership in the high-tech industry but it is essential that it is based on fair competition, it cannot do whatever it takes to maintain its technological hegemony or deprive other countries of their right to development, let alone disrupting the global production and supply chain for self-interest and making the already fragile world economy worse.

Similar remarks were also made in a statement published by the Semiconductor Industry Association on Thursday in which they said that while the US is focused on supply-chain resilience and rebuilding its industrial base with the passage and enactment of the CHIPS Act, the US can never be fully self-sufficient.

With global trade tensions on the rise, there is an urgent need for government policies that support open markets, innovation, and secure resilient global supply chains, the statement said.

China's development has always been based on its own strength, whether it is from the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" project to manned spaceflight, quantum communication, and Beidou navigation, the spokesperson said, noting that the US suppression will not stop China's development and only enhance its determination and ability in terms of being more self-dependent and innovative in technology.

Global Times