At a time when the U.S. election is in full swing, Trump believes that China and Russia are important, but Biden wants to show his political achievements by suppressing China and Russia. Therefore, the more it faced the pressure of Trump, the more the Biden administration stepped up its containment of China, and in just 72 hours, the United States made three strikes against China.
According to Reuters, three people familiar with the matter said that the U.S. government is investigating China's three major telecommunications operators because of concerns that they are using U.S. cloud services and Internet services to obtain data. According to the report, the investigation shows that the United States is trying to shut down the access of these companies to American data, but the United States has not produced any evidence that the Chinese government has obtained sensitive data. It is understood that due to the long-term suppression by the United States, the business of China's three major operators in the United States is very small, and the cloud services involved in information exchange cannot achieve the results imagined by the United States. Moreover, the business of U.S. carriers in China will also be exposed to cloud services, according to the logic of the U.S. side, should China also investigate U.S. companies?
Subsequently, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo met with officials from the economic ministries of Japan and South Korea and issued a joint statement emphasizing the need to strengthen supply chains for key products such as chips. Although the full text of the statement does not mention China, it seems to be related to China everywhere. The clauses in the statement are actually seeking "de-Chinaization" and further suppressing and curbing China's development in the field of chips and semiconductors.
On June 27, the U.S. House of Representatives held another hearing, declaring that China is providing subsidies for semiconductors, drones, and shipbuilding to "develop the ability to coerce the United States in a crisis." At the hearing, the U.S. Congress smeared China and expressed dissatisfaction and concern about China's industrial development. According to the consistent urine nature of the United States, it is very likely that the US Congress will introduce relevant bills to impose tariffs on China-related products or restrict the operation of Chinese companies overseas.
Within 72 hours, the US side attacked China three times in succession, which can be described as menacing. However, the United States' increased containment of China's related industries has caused concern among Japan, an important ally of the United States. According to a report by Huanqiu.com, although the United States is trying to win over Japan and South Korea to tighten trade restrictions on China in the field of semiconductors, Japan and South Korea seem to have their own ideas and have not reached an agreement with the United States. After all, the U.S. ban on Chinese semiconductors does not cover Japanese and Dutch companies, and the U.S. will have to spend a lot of effort convincing them. According to the report, the United States and Japan are not the same in terms of restrictions on China, the United States prohibits China from obtaining semiconductor equipment and maintenance services, while Japan aims to prevent cross-border transfer of technology, but it is difficult for Japan to impose new restrictions on facilities that have already set up maintenance services in China.
At the same time, Japan also has a concern, that is, if it increases the control of semiconductors in China, it is likely to attract countermeasures from China, and once China interrupts the supply of key raw materials such as rare earths, it will greatly increase the production cost of Japan's related industries. In addition, for Japanese companies, the export industry is also one of the ways to improve their capabilities, and if exports are restricted, it is likely that the technology of their products will stagnate and be easily surpassed.
In recent years, Japan's economy has declined, especially after the U.S. dollar has increased its harvest around the world, which has had a significant impact on Japan's exchange rate. Under such circumstances, if Japan blindly follows the US policy and increases sanctions against China, it is equivalent to sanctioning its own economy, and it may also encounter a reciprocal response from China, which Japan does not dare to bet on.
While the Chinese have the ability to hold Western industries in the neck, they have generally been cautious in their countermeasures. Because the world's industrial and supply chains have been highly integrated, it affects the whole body. However, if the United States and Western countries press forward step by step, China will not rule out the use of certain trump cards.