The Chinese government issued a warning to consumers on Sunday to cease purchasing items from Micron Technology Inc., the largest manufacturer of memory chips in the US. Micron products, according to the Cyberspace Administration of China, have unidentified “serious network security risks” that endanger China’s information infrastructure and compromise national security.
China’s access to cutting-edge chip manufacturing and other technologies that could be used in weapons is being restricted by the US, Europe, and Japan. Chinese authorities have issued vague threats of consequences, but they appear unsure of how to act without hurting the nation’s smartphone manufacturers and other industries.
China’s Order
On April 4, hours after Japan and Washington joined the United States in placing limitations on Chinese access to technology to manufacture processor chips due to security concerns, Micron was officially under examination under China’s increasingly harsh information security rules.
There is concern among foreign companies following raids on Bain & Co. and Capvision, as well as Mintz Group, which specializes in due diligence. Chinese authorities have not explained the raids but have insisted that foreign companies must follow the law.
- Micron products pose security risks to China’s infrastructure and national security.
- China restricts access to technology due to security concerns.
- War between US and China could lead to incompatible technology standards.
Business organizations and the US government have asked officials to clarify recently enhanced legal limits on information and how they would be applied.
According to the Sunday declaration, China is welcoming companies and platform products and services to enter the Chinese market and strongly supports high-level opening up to the outside world.
Beijing’s lack of retaliation may be due to a desire to prevent disruptions to Chinese industries that manufacture the majority of the world’s smartphones, tablets, and other consumer electronics.
Warnings have been issued that the battle may cause the world to decouple, or split into different realms with incompatible technology standards, making it impossible for computers, smartphones, and other devices from one region to function in another. Relations between the United States and China are at their lowest point in decades as a result of security disagreements, Beijing’s treatment of Muslim ethnic minorities in Hong Kong and elsewhere, territorial conflicts, and China’s massive trade deficits.
