After China implemented rare earth restrictions, the American semiconductor giant Micron Technology chose to reconcile with the Chinese company Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit, does this agreement mean that China and the United States "break the ice" in related fields?What are the details of this Sino-US semiconductor game that deserve our attention?
China has revised the list of restricted and prohibited surgical procedures to include rare earth extraction technology. As rare earths play an important role in a number of high-tech fields, China's move has aroused great concern in the United States and the West. As a major producer, processor and refining country of rare earths, China occupies 90% of the relevant market. As early as February this year, when the United States, France and Germany held a high-level meeting, they proposed to establish a "critical mineral sellers' club" in an attempt to separate China from the strategic resource chain. However, after more than half a year of discussion, the United States and the West found themselves unable to do so, because China is not only a major producer of many critical minerals, but also has a complete processing industry chain. China's restrictions on the export of rare earth-related technologies have made it more difficult for the United States to build its own industrial chain.
The U.S. semiconductor giant Micron Technology and the Chinese company Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit reached a settlement agreement, and the two parties withdrew each other's lawsuits and ended the lawsuit. This is a historic ice-breaking moment for the U.S. and Chinese semiconductor industries. Especially for Fujian Jinhua, it is not easy to reach a settlement. In 2016, Fujian Jinhua received state investment to start research and development of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and cooperated with UMC. However, Micron filed a lawsuit against Fujian Jinhua in 2017, accusing the latter of "stealing intellectual property." In 2018, Micron's products sold in China were suspected of infringing Jinhua, so Jinhua filed a lawsuit against Micron, demanding that the infringement be stopped immediately and that it pay 200 million yuan in compensation. However, in this dispute, Taiwan's UMC has become a "dishonorable character". The reason why Micron accused Jinhua of "stealing intellectual property" is that Lianhua has three former Micron employees who are suspected of "stealing Micron secrets". However, Micron did not provide any evidence to prove that Jinhua had "stolen intellectual property". Cao Xingcheng was the chairman of UMC at the time, and he had been appearing as a "patriotic Taiwanese businessman" until 2020, and had proposed a referendum on reunification in the Taiwan region, and actively cooperated with the mainland in chips, which attracted judicial proceedings from the Taiwan authorities. However, in 2018, the failure of Fujian Jinhua to build a factory, and the failure of Suzhou Hejian to go public in 2019 have caused continuous setbacks in the development of mainland chips, and Lianhua's accusations of stealing technology from American companies have also had a negative impact on mainland companies. In 2020, Cao Xingcheng showed his true colors, he is an out-and-out "** molecule." In August last year, during the visit of then Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, Cao Xingcheng vigorously slandered the reunification faction of the mainland and the Taiwan region, and threatened to "donate NT$3 billion" to "strengthen Taiwan's defense capability." These circumstances indicate that the encounters of Fujian Jinhua and Suzhou Hejian may have been caused by "falling into a trap". The reconciliation between Micron and Fujian Jinhua shows that there is a wave in the game between China and the United States. What is certain, however, is that as China's overall strength increases, the effectiveness of US sanctions will become worse and worse, and its attempt to contain China in an all-round way will fail.
Although China and the United States have achieved "icebreaking" in the field of semiconductors, the US sanctions against China will not stop. "Small courtyards and high walls" technology export controls will also become more and more stringent. The rapprochement between Micron and Fujian Jinhua is only one aspect of the game between China and the United States. However, China's arsenal of countermeasures against the United States is gradually improving, whether it is the implementation of rare earth technology restrictions, or gallium germanium and graphite restrictions, the United States and the West are difficult to find a replacement in the short term, or even no replacement at all. China and the United States have huge common interests in economic and trade areas, and the two sides cannot achieve "decoupling and breaking the chain". For Micron, after the ban in the Chinese market, it can only choose to soften. In addition, China has achieved domestically produced 7-nanometer chips in mobile phone production and has made breakthroughs in DRAM technology, making it impossible for American companies such as Micron to impose sanctions on China.
Although China and the United States have achieved a certain degree of "icebreaking" in the field of semiconductors, the possibility of the United States continuing to impose sanctions on China cannot be ruled out, and the "small courtyard and high wall" technology export control will become increasingly strict. However, as China's overall strength increases, the effectiveness of US sanctions will become worse and worse, and its attempt to contain China in an all-round way is doomed to fail.