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Tech war: US seeks details on made-in-China Huawei chip in Mate 60 Pro smartphone, possibly made by SMIC
- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan says the government is looking into the precise composition of the processor in Huawei’s new handset
- Some experts caution that the US-led campaign to block China’s access to cutting-edge technologies may falter if Washington fails to act decisively
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The US is working to establish the full details of Huawei Technologies’s advances in chip technology, news of which has stoked Chinese nationalism and ignited speculation about the effectiveness of Washington’s curbs on the country’s vast technology sector.
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US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Tuesday the government wanted to know the precise composition of the processor in Huawei’s Mate 60 Pro, which a teardown conducted for Bloomberg News revealed was just a few years behind the current generation and made by US-blacklisted Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).
Sullivan broke Washington’s silence after Huawei abruptly released its handset without fanfare last week while Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo visited China. State-backed Chinese media on Wednesday again called the revelation a breakthrough in efforts to reduce reliance on American technology. The Economic Daily said it embodied “China Essence” – a play on the very similar words for “chip” and “heart”.
“I’m going to withhold comment on the particular chip in question until we get more information about precisely its character and composition,” Sullivan said during a White House briefing on Tuesday. “What it tells us, regardless, is that the United States should continue on its course of a ‘small yard, high fence’ set of technology restrictions focused narrowly on national security concerns, not on the broader question of commercial decoupling.”
Huawei and SMIC are both subject to US sanctions preventing them from accessing the most advanced chipmaking and equipment, on fears of potentially aiding China’s military. The Mate 60 Pro, built around a 7-nm Kirin 9000s processor, suggests initial progress in Beijing’s effort to wean itself off American technology. Some analysts on Wednesday suggested that the device, if Huawei could get it made on a large scale, could threaten Apple’s iPhone sales in the country.
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