Beijing vows retaliation if Biden curbs Chinese chip firms again

The Chinese government has vowed to “implement necessary measures” after media reports said the United States would add more Chinese semiconductor firms to its Entity List.

He Yadong, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, on Thursday threatened to retaliate against Washington after Reuters reported on November 22 that the Biden administration would soon unveil a new round of sanctions to ban shipments of US chips and chip-making equipment to 200 Chinese chip companies.

Media reports said the curbs would be announced before November 28, or Thanksgiving Day, but they have not yet been announced as of this writing.

Some Chinese commentators said China should further tighten its export rules to prevent US companies from obtaining its metals such as germanium and dysprosium.

“China has dominated the supply of precious metals such as germanium and dysprosium, which are the most important raw materials in the semiconductor industry,” a Jilin-based columnist says in an article. “Our country can completely stop the export of these raw materials, forcing western countries to delay the pace of their technological development.”

He said this move would provide more time for China to catch up with the US in terms of technological development.

He said China should consider forming an alliance with Singapore and Japan to jointly stop the US from obtaining key raw materials to make chips.

Meanwhile, some other Chinese commentators are not optimistic that China can unveil any effective countermeasures against the US.

A Henan-based writer using the pseudonym “Xiaoxi Lishi” published an article with the title “200 Chinese chip firms will be sanctioned. This is game over!”

“The potential sanctioning of 200 Chinese chip