China Starts Initiative to Become Technologically Autonomous Despite Semiconductor Challenges.

Beijing’s quest for “scientific and technological independence,” particularly in the semiconductor sector, has gotten mixed reactions from around the world. While overseas companies fear the measure will stifle innovation and disrupt global trade, some China experts feel China’s chip development quality and success rate aren’t likely to produce meaningful results.

In October 2021, T-Head, Alibaba’s semiconductor division, revealed the E-Ten 710, a new CPU chip. The chip, which is reported to be 5 nanometers in size, will be utilized only for Alibaba’s cloud computing business, with no intentions to sell it to third parties, according to Alibaba.

Alibaba’s cross-border chip development is tied to the Chinese Communist Party’s  “core making” objectives as an e-commerce powerhouse. China is the world’s largest chip consumer, accounting for around 36% of global consumption but just 15.9% of global output.

Chip production is a primary objective for the CCP’s “scientific independence” campaign, which aims to wean the country off superior technology from the US, Japan, and other countries. In 2018, the United States imposed penalties on Huawei, China’s first global tech firm, heightening Beijing’s eagerness to create its own processors.

Along with Alibaba, internet heavyweights Tencent and Baidu, as well as smartphone maker Xiaomi, have joined the CCP’s “core making” movement.

However, the regime’s haste to gain chip independence has heightened international concern. Beijing was already viewed as a strategic foe by Europe and the United States, who feared it might steal their technologies. Due to national security concerns, Western countries such as the United States and the Netherlands have limited the CCP’s access to the most advanced chipmaking technologies.

The CCP has made significant investments in attempting to resolve the issue of China’s disrupted semiconductor supply. China committed in 2014 to invest between $100 billion and $150 billion in public and private money to overcome the world’s leading corporations in semiconductor technology by 2030, including chip design, assembly, and packaging.

The CCP launched China’s National Semiconductor Industry Investment Fund, or “Big Fund,” in September 2014. The first investment was 138.7 billion yuan ($22.19 billion) and was focused on integrated circuit production, which included equipment, materials, sealing, and testing. The second “Big Fund” phase was announced in October 2019, amid the backdrop of US sanctions against Chinese technology businesses, with a scale of 204.1 billion yuan (about $32.66 billion).

However, according to Liu Pei-chen, a researcher at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, despite substantial government investment, the CCP’s semiconductor development process is still slower than planned, particularly in the areas of advanced production processes and autonomous R&D.

According to Liu, the fundamental reason for the lag is that the CCP is still dealing with a disrupted semiconductor supply and is unable to procure crucial semiconductor equipment and chips as a result of European and American sanctions.

The dividing line between mature and advanced lithography technologies, according to current chip production standards, is 28 nanometers. Processes with a diameter of 28 nanometers or more are regarded mature, while those with a diameter of less than 28 nanometers are termed advanced.

Key equipment for modern manufacturing processes is still held in nations such as the United States, the Netherlands, and Japan, which have a market share of more than 70%, according to Liu.

In November 2021, Shen Bo, global vice president and China president of Dutch semiconductor manufacturer ASML, confirmed that EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) lithography machines, a key piece of equipment in advanced processes, are still unavailable in China, but DUV (Deep Ultraviolet) lithography machines used in mature processes are. As a result, foundries in China, such as SMIC, can only build mature processes.

China will fall further behind without these modern capabilities, according to Peter Hanbury of Bain & Co., a worldwide consulting firm that analyzes the semiconductor business. The TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) horse is sprinting away and the Chinese horse is stopped,” he explained. “They can’t move forward.”

According to a research published by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) in 2021, China lags behind in terms of tools, materials, and manufacturing technologies.

According to the CCP’s “Made in China 2025” strategy, domestic chip output would reach 70% by 2025. However, with the current rate of progress, Liu Pei-chen believes that achieving that goal is very impossible.

Experts told the Associated Press that Beijing has set its own semiconductor targets and provided significant government funding, but that it may face costly disappointment. If chipmakers and other industries are separated from global suppliers with modern components and technologies, they will struggle to stay competitive. Apart from China, no other country has identified chip independence as a goal.

China’s own scientific research capabilities are quite low, according to Liu Qikun, a Chinese current affairs analyst based in Canada, and the communist dictatorship relies primarily on plagiarism to advance science and technology.

“The CCP’s previous development of science and technology relies mainly on the theft of foreign intellectual property rights,” Liu remarked.

“The value of intellectual property stolen from abroad by the CCP is worth hundreds of billions of dollars per year. The CCP is arguably the biggest thief in the history of China, and indeed in the history of the world, ” Liu remarked, adding that some estimates put the figure at trillions of dollars.

According to a report by The Commission on The Theft of American Intellectual Property, the theft of intellectual property and trade secrets by the CCP costs the US economy between $225 billion and $600 billion yearly, according to Cheng Xiaonong, a U.S.-based economist.

According to Dr. Huang Zuwei, a senior engineer at NASA, the success rate of the CCP’s independent chip R&D isn’t zero, but it’s quite low, and even if it succeeds, the finished goods would be subpar or fail to meet criteria.

“Have a look at the most advanced technologies in the world today. Which of them was first created by the CCP? None. All were copied from others.” he stated.

speaking on the topic of national security risks posed by the CCP’s so-called “technological autonomy,” Dr. Huang noted: “The national security concern is clear. Decades ago, European and American countries treated the CCP as a normal government, hoping to change it through normal exchanges. However, after all these years, the CCP not only hasn’t changed, but has been unscrupulously stealing technologies from developed democracies.”

We can expect a falling empire like the CCP to attempt to drag everyone down with them, because that’s what cowards do. If they don’t find the technological autonomy they’re looking for, and fast, they’ll be knocking down Taiwan’s back door demanding cooperation. These are the details required to have a firm grasp on the reality and restraints foreign nations must impose on each other to protect their own self interest. China however, has no interest in conducting any of it’s business without violating national security or provoking foreign super powers and they must be put in check. 1 Peter 4:12-14 Says this: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”

On Dec. 24, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Lingnan University dismantled monuments and sculptures honoring the pro-democracy Tiananmen square protests and massacre. The University of Hong Kong also covertly toppled the “Pillar of Shame” Tiananmen memorial on the evening of Dec. 22.

Workers dispatched by school administrators in the early morning dismantled the bronze Goddess of Democracy that had been at CUHK for 12 years. Lingnan University covered a Tiananmen Massacre painting and dismantled a memorial relief sculpture on the same day.

Chen Weiming, a New Zealander, designed both sculptures to mark the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. On June 2, 2010, the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China received the 6.4-meter tall bronze statue of Goddess of Democracy, which was delivered to Hong Kong for display. The Hong Kong government confiscated the monument twice at the time, citing a narcotics investigation and blocking of the streets as justifications. Some members of the Hong Kong Alliance have been accused and detained. Chen’s admission into Hong Kong was similarly rejected when he arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport.

The Goddess of Democracy monument was ultimately unveiled during the candlelight vigil on June 4th of that year, after a series of twists and turns. Then, on June 5, around 2,000 CUHK instructors, students, and residents took it to the university campus, where it was built close to the MTR University Station on a verdant grass field.

In the same year, the Lingnan University Student Union requested and received approval from Lingnan University for the permanent placement of the Tiananmen Square Relief Sculpture on campus.

Chen included around 10,000 images from the Tiananmen Square Massacre into the sculpture, including tanks pursuing students preparing to leave Tiananmen Square, the “Tank Man” standing in front of a tank to prevent it, and Beijing civilians bringing the dead and wounded to local hospitals on bicycles. In 2010, the relief sculpture was delivered to Hong Kong along with a bronze figure of the Goddess of Democracy, and it was seized by authorities for further investigation.

Chen Weiming expressed remorse over the removal of his artwork from Hong Kong’s institutions in an interview with The Epoch Times. Chen pointed out that the two institutions had welcomed the sculptures on campus at the time, but he was fully unaware of the removals prior to them, which was unethical and maybe illegal. He further stated that the sculpture was only loaned out for the show and that he remains the sole proprietor of the artwork. He would speak with a lawyer about how to proceed with the situation, which may include legal action. He also hopes that the two colleges will be able to properly store the sculptures and transfer them back to the US for exhibition.

“This is likely the fate of such sculptures in Hong Kong. Under the National Security Law, there is no place for reasoning in Hong Kong, and the city’s rule of law is dead,  ” Chen added. “The Sino-British Joint Declaration is not even recognized by the CCP [Chinese Communist Party].” The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] does not even recognize the Sino-British Joint Declaration. I believe that the removals are a result of pressure from Beijing. If Hong Kong still has the freedom of ‘Hong Kong people ruling Hong Kong,’ the school will never take such actions” he added.

At 12 a.m., the sculptures were taken down. The people who took them away were “as cunning as thieves,” according to Chen.

“Why didn’t they dare to do this in the daytime, in a noble and dignified manner? It indicates that they know it is inappropriate. They fear that they would incur public outcry,” Chen explained.

He said that the Chinese communist leadership nearly always arrests and prosecutes dissidents just before the holidays, when the international press is on vacation. “This is the CCP’s standard strategy,” he explained.

The oppression of Chinese people in favor of liberty is nothing new, however there is something particularly interesting about the fact that the “Goddess of Democracy” was used as symbolism for the liberation of the Chinese people. Semiramis, the “queen of heaven” is seen in various places to represent freedom, and liberty. Yet, when we zoom out to look at the big picture we notice that God’s plan will unravel whether you like it or not. Because it is free will, and liberation that lead to the great harvest. Secular atheism is budging people to adopt false beliefs simply to make each individual more controllable and malleable. Core curriculum in the education system should be one of the most flexible systems of education in history by this point. Yet children are receiving the same cookie cutter curriculum as twenty years ago.

Revelation 14:14 says: “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, “Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.” Stay inquisitive in the word of God, and the world around you.