澳大利亞與日本簽署防務協議，因為對中國的擔憂上升

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Australia, Japan Sign Defense Pact as China Concerns Loom

6 Jan 2022

Associated Press | By Haruka Nuga and Steve McMorran

SYDNEY — The leaders of Japan and Australia signed a “landmark” defense agreement Thursday that allows closer cooperation between their militaries and stands as a rebuke to China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met in a virtual summit to sign the Reciprocal Access Agreement, the first such defense pact signed by Japan with any country other than the United States.

The agreement follows more than a year of talks between Japan and Australia aimed at breaking down legal barriers to allow the troops of one country to enter the other for training and other purposes.

“Japan is our closest partner in Asia as demonstrated by our special strategic partnership — Australia’s only such partnership,” Morrison said. “An equal partnership, shared trust between two great democracies committed to the rule of law, human rights, free trade and a free and open Indo-Pacific.”

Kishida hailed the agreement as “a landmark instrument which will elevate security cooperation between the nations to new heights.”

While China wasn’t mentioned, its significance at the signing was implicit.

Japan’s ambassador to Australia, Shingo Yamagami, said that “in light of the deteriorating security environment, what Japan and Australia can do together is first of all to increase deterrence.”

Morrison said the agreement “will form an important part of Australia and Japan’s response to the uncertainty we now face and will underpin greater and more complex engagement in operability between the Australia Defense Force and Japan Self-Defense Forces.”

He called the pact a "pivotal moment for Australia and Japan and (for) the security of our two nations and our people.”

Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the agreement recognized the importance of establishing firm defense partnerships to deter an increasingly aggressive China.

“Japan is breaking away from its post-war constitutional constraints on the use of military force because Tokyo recognizes the challenges it is facing from China,” he told Sky News. “There is a territorial dispute between China and Japan ... and more significantly there is a growing concern China will make a move over Taiwan in the next few years.”

The pact builds on the strategic dialogue known as “the Quad,” which includes Japan, Australia, the United States and India. Australia last year also signed the AUKUS agreement with the United States and Britain, both of which have pledged to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.

Translation

悉尼 - 週四，日本和澳大利亞領導人簽署了一項“具有里程碑意義的”防務協議，該協議允許兩國軍隊之間進行更密切的合作，這是對中國在印太地區日益增強的獨斷行為的訓誡。

澳大利亞總理斯科特·莫里森和日本首相岸田文雄在虛擬峰會上會面，簽署了互惠准入協議，這是日本與美國以外的任何國家簽署的第一個此類防務協議。

該協議是在日本和澳大利亞進行了一年多的談判之後達成的，旨在打破法律障礙，允許一個國家的軍隊進入另一個國家進行訓練和其他目的。

莫里森說: “日本是我們在亞洲最親密的伙伴, 正如我們的特殊戰略夥伴關係所證明 - 澳大利亞是唯一的這樣的伙伴”; “有著平等夥伴關係的兩個共同信任致力於法治、人權、自由貿易和自由開放的印太地區的偉大民主國家” 。

岸田稱該協議是“具有里程碑意義的,將兩國安全合作提升到新高度的文書”。

雖然沒有提到中國，但它在簽署時的意義是隱含的。

日本駐澳大利亞大使Shingo Yamagami表示， “鑑於安全環境不斷惡化，日本和澳大利亞可以共同做的事是首先增加威懾力” 。

莫里森表示，該協議 “將成為澳大利亞和日本應對我們現在面臨的不確定性的重要組成部分，並將支持澳大利亞國防軍和日本自衛隊在可操作性方面進行更廣泛、更複雜的接觸。”

他稱該協議是“澳大利亞和日本的一個關鍵時刻,亦是對我們兩國和其人民的安全(而言)”。

澳大利亞戰略政策研究所的高級分析師 Malcolm Davis 表示，該協議承認建立牢固的國防夥伴關係以阻止日益咄咄逼人的中國的重要性。

他告訴天空新聞(Sky News),“日本正在擺脫戰後憲法對使用武力的限制，因為東京認識到它面臨來自中國的挑戰” ;  “中國和日本之間存在領土爭端……更重要的是，人們越來越擔心中國將在未來幾年內對台灣採取行動。”

該協議建立在被稱為 “the Quad” 的戰略對話之上，其中包括日本、澳大利亞、美國和印度。澳大利亞去年還與美國和英國簽署了AUKUS協議，兩國都承諾幫助澳大利亞獲得核動力潛艇。

So, the leaders of Japan and Australia have signed a “landmark” defense agreement as a rebuke to China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. In the past year Australia has become more active in dealing with China.

日本幫助比爾蓋茨在懷俄明州建造高科技核反應堆 - 讀賣新聞

Recently Yahoo news on-line reported the following:

Japan to help build Bill Gates' high-tech nuclear reactor in Wyoming -Yomiuri

Fri, December 31, 2021, 8:26 PM

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd are set to cooperate with the United States and Bill Gates' venture company to build a high-tech nuclear reactor in Wyoming, the daily Yomiuri reported on Saturday.

The parties will sign an agreement as early as January for JAEA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to provide technical support and data from Japan's own advanced reactors, the report said citing multiple unidentified sources.

TerraPower, an advanced nuclear power venture founded by Gates, is set to open its Natrium plant in Wyoming in 2028. The U.S. government will provide funding to cover half of the $4 billion project.

Terrapower had initially explored the prospect of building an experimental nuclear plant with state-owned China National Nuclear Corp, until it was forced to seek new partners after the administration of Donald Trump restricted nuclear deals with China.

The United States has been competing with China and Russia which also hope to build and export advanced reactors.

Japan, on the other hand, has a bitter history of decommissioning its Monju prototype advanced reactor in 2016, a project which cost $8.5 billion but provided little results and years of controversy.

The Monju facility saw accidents, regulatory breaches, and cover-ups since its conception, and was closed following public distrust of nuclear energy after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Both JAEA and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries could not be reached for comment, as their offices were closed for the New Year holidays.

(Reporting by Sakura Murakami; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Translation

東京（路透社）- 據《讀賣新聞》週六報導，日本原子能機構（JAEA）和三菱重工將與美國和比爾蓋茨的風險投資公司合作，在懷俄明州建造一座高科技核反應堆。

報導報導援引多個身份不明的消息來源稱，雙方最早將於 1 月簽署一項協議，JAEA 和三菱重工將提供技術支持及日本自己的先進反應堆的和數據。

由蓋茨創立的先進核電企業 TerraPower 將於 2028 年在懷俄明州開設 Natrium 工廠。美國政府將提供資金，支付這價值40 億美元項目的一半。

Terrapower 最初曾與國有的中國核工業集團公司探討建設試驗核電站的前景，直到德特朗普政府限制與中國的核交易後，它被迫尋找新的合作夥伴。

美國一直在與也希望建造和出口先進反應堆的中國和俄羅斯競爭。

另一方面，日本在 2016 年退役其 Monju 原型先進反應堆的歷史令人痛苦。該項目耗資 85 億美元，但收效甚微，且導致爭議多年。

自構想以來，Monju設施發生了事故、監管違規和掩飾，並在 2011 年福島核災難後因公眾對核能的不信任而關閉。

因為辦公室因新年假期而關閉, 所以無法聯繫到 JAEA 和三菱重工置評。

So, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd are set to cooperate with the United States and Bill Gates' venture company to build a high-tech nuclear reactor in Wyoming.

Note: According to its web-site, TerraPower together with another company, have based on decades of unparalleled design expertise and technical capabilities to develop the Natrium™ technology which features a cost-competitive sodium fast reactor combined with a molten salt energy storage system. This unique combination will provide clean, flexible energy and stability, and integrate seamlessly into power grids with high penetrations of renewables.

Historical War - Mr. Putin tries to rewrite the past, and to see Russian future from that (2/2)

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

Analysis

歴史戦争 - 過去の書き換え図るプーチン氏、そこから見えるロシアの未来 (2/2)

2021.12.29 Wed posted at 18:00 JST

(continue)

プーチン氏が歴史に言及してから数カ月の間に、ロシア軍がウクライナ国境に集結し、侵攻が有力な選択肢であるという明確なシグナルを送る結果となった。

ウクライナの安全保障分析によると、ロシアは国境付近の兵力を１２万人に増強。米国はウクライナ付近での兵士や装備品の動きについて、侵攻への準備を示す可能性があるとみて、北大西洋条約機構（ＮＡＴＯ）加盟国や欧州のパートナー国と情報共有している。

一方、ロシア大統領府はウクライナ攻撃の計画を否定している。

プーチン氏は今月２３日、毎年恒例の長時間に及ぶ記者会見で、集まった国内外の記者にロシアは「いかなる軍事行動も欲しない」と表明する一方、米国やＮＡＴＯに批判の矛先を向けた。

「我々はＮＡＴＯの東方拡大がこれ以上あってはならないと直接要請した。ボールは彼らの側にある」。プーチン氏はそう指摘したうえで、「（ロシアとＮＡＴＯは）まるで別の惑星にいるように感じられることがある」と付け加えた。

これは外交政策の形を取った自己憐憫（れんびん）と呼んでいいだろう。超大国の地位の喪失から、サンクトペテルブルクでのタクシードライバーの副業まで、１９９０年代の屈辱はプーチン氏が掲げる「大ロシア」復興計画を正当化する役を果たしているのだ。

確かに、プーチン氏がウクライナをめぐる不満を示すのは目新しいことではない。同氏は２００７年のミュンヘン安全保障会議での演説でも同じテーマに言及し、ロシアの玄関先にＮＡＴＯを拡大することの不誠実さを指摘するとともに、欧米諸国が裏でウクライナの街頭デモをけしかけていると主張していた。

プーチン氏はアマチュア歴史家の役を務めているのかもしれないが、同氏の歴史記憶が都合のいい部分だけを切り取っていることは疑いない。

ロシア検察はこのところ、ソ連全体主義の歴史の記録と教育に尽力する市民団体「メモリアル」を解散させようと動いている（訳注：ロシア最高裁は２８日、メモリアルの解散を命じた）。メモリアルの調査対象にはグラーグの強制労働システムや反体制派の投獄、ソ連で起きた相次ぐ処刑などが含まれる。

ロシアの調査記者ドミトリー・ムラトフ氏は最近のノーベル平和賞受賞演説で、メモリアルを「人民の友」と呼んだが、これはソ連体制の犠牲者の記憶を保存しようと孤独な闘いを強いられることが多いメモリアルの形容として妥当だろう。

メモリアルはロシア政府によって「外国の代理人」に指定されている。

ムラトフ氏はウクライナにも言及し、ロシアによるウクライナ東部の分離主義者への支援は実のところ、両国の友好のチャンスをついえさせたと指摘した。

さらに「一部の正気を失った地政学者の頭の中では、ロシアとウクライナの戦争はもはやあり得ないことではない」「だが私は、戦争が（死んだ）兵士の身元確認と捕虜交換で終わることを知っている」とも語った。ムラトフ氏は１９９０年代、ロシアからの分離独立を求めたチェンチェンでの紛争を取材した。

とはいえ、プーチン氏がウクライナに侵攻すると決まったわけではない。１０月下旬、東欧へのＮＡＴＯ拡大の可能性を阻止するためどのような提案をするかと問われ、プーチン氏は「あなたを失望させてしまうだろうが、その質問の答えはまだ分からない」と述べている。

Translation

(continue)

In the months following Putin's mention of history, Russian troops gathered at the Ukrainian border, resulting in a clear signal that invasion was a viable option.

According to Ukrainian security analysis, Russia had increased its troops near the border to 120,000. The United States was sharing information with NATO members and European partners about the movement of soldiers and equipment near Ukraine, as it could indicate preparations for an invasion.

Meanwhile, the Russian presidential office denied any plan to attack Ukraine.

Putin said at an annual long press conference on the 23rd of this month and expressed to the gathered domestic and foreign reporters that Russia "does not want any military action", while pointing criticism to the United States and NATO.

He said, "We directly requested that NATO's eastern expansion should be ended. The ball is on their side." Putin added that "it can be felt like that (Russia and NATO) are on different planets".

This could be called a self-pity in the form of foreign policy. From the loss of superpower status to the side job of a taxi driver in St. Petersburg, the humiliation of the 1990s served to justify Putin's "Great Russia" reconstruction plan.

To be sure, Putin's dissatisfaction with Ukraine was nothing new. He mentioned the same theme in his speech at the 2007 Munich Security Council, pointing out the dishonesty of expanding NATO to Russia's front door, and was insisting that Western countries were behind the scenes in street demonstrations in Ukraine.

Putin might be acting as an amateur historian, but there was no doubt that his historical memory only cut out the parts that were convenient for him.

The Russian prosecutor's office had recently been working to disband the "Memorial", a civic group dedicated to recording and educating the history of Soviet totalitarianism (note: the Russian Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of Memorial on the 28^th). The Memorial did investigations including Gulag's forced labor system, dissident imprisonment, and successive executions in the Soviet Union.

Russian research reporter Dmitry Muratov called the Memorial the "people's friend" in a recent Nobel Peace Prize-winning speech, and it would be an appropriate description of Memorial as it was forced to into a lonely fight in preserving the memories of victims in the Soviet Union.

The Memorial had been designated as a "foreign agent" by the Russian government.

Mr. Muratov also referred to Ukraine, noting that Russia's support for separatists in eastern Ukraine actually provided an opportunity for friendship between the two countries.

He further said "In the minds of some insane geopoliticians, the war between Russia and Ukraine is no longer impossible"; "but I know that the war would end with identifying (dead) soldiers and exchanging prisoners. " Mr. Muratov had covered the conflicts in Chechen in the 1990s that sought independence from Russia.

However, Mr. Putin had not decided to invade Ukraine. In late October, when asked what suggestions he would make to prevent the possibility of NATO expansion into Eastern Europe, Putin said, " you may be disappointed, as I still don't know the answer to that question."

              So, Putin’s perception on Ukraine is guided by his historical view and personal experience. In a similar fashion, Xi in China views Taiwan by his historical view, claiming that Taiwan is part of China and must be put under Chinese rule. Both have no consideration for the feeling and wishes of local people involved. Yet local people’s plight and worries are shared by many the western world leaders as they believe in people’s right for self determination.

Historical War - Mr. Putin tries to rewrite the past, and to see Russian future from that (1/2)

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

Analysis

歴史戦争 - 過去の書き換え図るプーチン氏、そこから見えるロシアの未来 (1/2)

2021.12.29 Wed posted at 18:00 JST

 （ＣＮＮ） ロシアのプーチン大統領が最近、ソ連崩壊後の混乱期にタクシードライバーとして副収入を得ていたことを認め、同氏の過去がより鮮明になった。

プーチン氏は国営テレビのドキュメンタリー用に行われたインタビューの抜粋で、「時には副業でタクシーを運転しなければいけないこともあった」と説明。「これについて話すのは不快だが、残念ながら事実だ」と語った。

実のところ、国家保安委員会（ＫＧＢ）の将校だったプーチン氏のソ連崩壊後の人生について、この打ち明け話から分かることはほとんどない。１９９０年代の経済的混乱の中では、ロシア人ドライバーが乗客を乗せて収入の足しにするのはごく普通のことだった。配車アプリ登場前、白タクに乗ろうと思えばただ通りがかった車を止め、料金について決めるだけでよかった。

従って、タクシーを運転していたというプーチン氏の「告白」は全てを率直に語ったわけではない。結局のところクレムリン（ロシア大統領府）はプーチン氏の私生活の詳細について固く口を閉ざしている。ただ、この余談めいた人生のエピソードは、テープを９１年に巻き戻し、その後の数十年に関して別の筋書きを描こうとするプーチン氏の包括的な政治目標について何かを語ってはいる。

プーチン氏はインタビューで、「我々は全く別の国に変貌してしまった。１０００年をかけて築き上げたものがほぼ失われた」と嘆いた。

ここ数カ月プーチン氏が注力しているのは、近年の欧州の歴史上もっとも重要な章の一つを書き換えること、つまり独立した主権国家ウクライナが９１年にロシアの隣に誕生した事実を書き換えることだ。

プーチン氏は６月、全国放送された国民との対話番組で、ウクライナ人とロシア人は「一つの民族」だと宣言。さらに５０００語に上る論文でこの主題について詳しく論じ、「ロシア人とウクライナ人の人為的な分裂」を嘆いた。

プーチン氏の主張は突き詰めていえば、ウクライナとロシアはより大きな「歴史的ロシア」の一部であり、９１年に独立した現在のウクライナはソ連指導部がつくり出した行政的、領土的境界の産物に過ぎないというものだ。

もちろん、プーチン氏は独立を支持した大勢のウクライナ人には触れなかった。

いや、プーチン氏の見方では、ソ連崩壊後のウクライナはロシアの弱体化を図る欧米の道具となったのである。

「ウクライナは危険な地政学ゲームに引きずり込まれた。その目的はウクライナを欧州とロシアを隔てる障壁とし、ロシアに対抗する足がかりとすることだ」。プーチン氏は論文でそう指摘し、「『ウクライナはロシアではない』との考え方が選択肢でなくなる時が来るのは避けられなかった。我々には決して受け入れられない『反ロシア』の考え方が必要になった」としている。

言い換えれば、プーチン氏はウクライナのレジームチェンジ（体制転換）が必要になった場合に備え、歴史的な正当化を試みているように見える。

(to be continued)

 Translation

(CNN) Russia's President Vladimir Putin recently admitted that he had earned extra income as a taxi driver during the turmoil after the collapse of the Soviet Union, making his past clearer.

Putin said in an excerpt from an interview conducted for a national television documentary that "Sometimes I had to drive a taxi as a side business". He said “It's unpleasant to talk about this, but unfortunately it's true”.

In fact, little could be said from this confession about the post-Soviet life of Mr. Putin, an officer of the KGB. In the economic turmoil of the 1990s, it was quite common for Russian drivers to carry passengers to add to their income. Before the ride-hailing app appeared, if one wanted to ride an unlicensed taxi, just to stop a passing car and decide on the fare.

So, Putin's "confession" that he was driving a taxi didn't say everything frankly. After all, the Kremlin (Russian Presidential Administration) was tight-lipped on the details of Mr. Putin's private life. While this digressive episode of his life rewound the tape to 1991, it was an attempt to enter into another story line to say something that included Mr. Putin's comprehensive political goals related to several decades that followed.

In an interview, Putin lamented, "We have transformed into a completely different country. Most of what we have built over 1000 years has been lost."

In recent months Putin had been focusing on rewriting one of the most important chapters in European history in recent years: to rewrite the fact that an independent sovereign state Ukraine was born next to Russia in 1991.

In June, Putin declared that Ukrainians and Russians were "one ethnic group" in a national dialogue program with the people. He further elaborated on this subject in a 5,000-word article and lamented the "artificial division between Russians and Ukrainians."

When looked into Putin's claim closely, it said that Ukraine and Russia were part of a larger "historic Russia", and the current Ukraine, which became independent in 1991, was nothing but a product of the administrative and territorial boundaries created by Soviet leadership.

Of course, Mr. Putin did not mention the many Ukrainians who supported independence.

More and more, in Putin's view, Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union became a Western tool to weaken Russia.

"Ukraine is dragged into a dangerous geopolitical game, the purpose of which is to make Ukraine a barrier separating Europe and Russia and a stepping stone against Russia." Putin had pointed out in his article that "the time has come when the idea that 'Ukraine is not Russia' is no longer an option. What is essential is a that that we never accept 'anti-Russian' thinking’. "

In other words, Mr. Putin seemed to be trying to make a historical justification in case a Ukrainian regime change is needed.

(to be continued)

中國概述了四個大型數據中心集群的願景

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China outlines vision for four mega data center clusters

Tue, December 28, 2021, 7:47 PM

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has approved plans to build four mega clusters of data centers in the country's north and west with the aim of supporting the data needs of Beijing and major coastal centers, according to the country's top state planner on Wednesday.

The clusters will be built in the northern Inner Mongolia region, northwestern Ningxia region, Gansu province and southwestern Guizhou province, the National Development and Reform Commission said in four separate statements.

The four locations can use their energy and environmental advantages to set up green and low-carbon mega data centers, the state planner said.

The move comes as energy-hungry data centers located in China's east have found it difficult to expand due to limits imposed by local governments on electricity consumption.

Some cities in China's northern and western regions rich in renewable energy resources such as wind and solar power have already built data centers to serve the economically developed coast.

But their distant locations have meant the centers have struggled to provide the near-instantaneous retrieval demanded by coastal clients with little tolerance for delays.

It is unclear how China would turn western and northern regions such as Ningxia and Gansu, which are 1,000 km (600 miles) from the coast, into actively operating centres of computing power given the data latency caused by the huge distances to data users in the east.

A marine economy development plan published on Dec. 14 encouraged major coastal cities such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai to relocate high energy-consuming data centers to underwater locations to cut energy used for cooling.

China aims to expand its big data industry into a more than 3 trillion-yuan ($470 billion) sector by 2025 through the building of several clusters of data centers, according to a 2021-2025 plan by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released in November.

 (Reporting by Liangping Gao, Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Richard Pullin)

Translation

北京（路透社）- 中國國家最高規劃人員周三表示，中國已批准在該國北部和西部建設四個大型數據中心集群的計劃，旨在支持北京和主要沿海中心的數據需求。

國家發展和改革委員會在四份單獨的聲明中說，這些集群將在內蒙古北部地區、寧夏西北部地區、甘肅省和貴州省西南部建設。

國家規劃師說，這四個地點可以利用其能源和環境優勢建立綠色低碳的大型數據中心。

此舉是因為位於中國東部的, 需要大量耗能的數據中心發現, 由於當地政府對電力消耗施所加的限製而難以擴展。

中國北部和西部地區一些擁有豐富風能、太陽能等可再生能源資源的城市已經建設了數據中心，去支援經濟發達的沿海地區。

但它們的遙遠位置意味著這些中心, 一直掙扎地去滿足沿海客戶幾乎不能容忍延遲, 及近乎即時的檢索要求。

鑑於與東部數據用戶之間有因超遠距離造成的數據延遲，目前尚不清楚中國將如何將距海岸 1,000 公里（600 英里）的寧夏和甘肅等西部和北部地區轉變為活躍的計算能力中心。。

在12 月 14 日發布的海洋經濟發展規劃, 鼓勵廣州、深圳和珠海等沿海主要城市將高能耗數據中心搬遷至水下位置，以減少用於冷卻的能源。

根據工業和信息化部 11 月發布的 2021-2025 年計劃，中國的目標是到 2025 年通過建設多個數據中心集群, 將其大數據產業擴展成一個到超過 3 萬億元人民幣（4,700 億美元）的行業.

So, China will in four remote locations use their energy and environmental advantages to set up green and low-carbon mega data centers. China is making an effort to improve green energy production.

中國追求科技“自力更生”，增加全球不安 (2/2)

China pursues tech 'self-reliance,' fueling global unease (2/2)

JOE McDONALD

Mon, December 27, 2021, 7:27 PM PST

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Even companies such as Alibaba that can design chips likely will need Taiwanese or other foreign foundries to make them. Alibaba's Yitian 710 requires precision no Chinese foundry can achieve. The company declined to say which foreign producer it will use.

“My country still faces a big gap in chip technology,” said industry analyst Liu Chuntian of Zero Power Intelligence Group.

China accounts for 23% of global chip production capacity but only 7.6% of sales.

Packing millions of transistors onto a fingernail-size sliver of silicon requires some 1,500 steps, microscopic precision and arcane technologies owned by a handful of U.S., European, Japanese and other suppliers.

They include KLA Corp. in California for super-precise measurement and Japan’s TEL for machines to apply coatings a few molecules thick. Many are covered by restrictions on “dual use” technologies that can be used in weapons.

China “lags significantly” in tools, materials and production technology, the Semiconductor Industry Association said in a report this year.

Washington and Europe, citing security worries, block access to the most advanced tools Chinese chipmakers need to match global leaders in precision and efficiency.

Without those, China is falling farther behind, said Bain’s Hanbury.

“The TSMC horse is sprinting away and the Chinese horse is stopped,” he said. “They can’t move forward.”

Washington stepped up pressure on Huawei last year by barring global foundries from using American technology to produce its chips. U.S. vendors can sell chips to the company, but not for next-generation “5G” smartphones.

For its part, the European Union said it will review foreign investments after complaints China was eroding Europe’s technology lead by purchasing important assets such as German robot maker Kuka.

Alibaba’s Yitian 710 is based on architecture from Britain’s Arm, highlighting China’s enduring need for foreign know-how. Alibaba said it still will work closely with longtime foreign suppliers Intel, Arm, Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.

T-Head’s first chip, the Hanguang 800, was announced in 2019 for artificial intelligence. Its second, the XuanTie 910, is for self-driving cars and other functions.

In November, Tencent Holding, which operates the WeChat messaging service, announced its first three chips for artificial intelligence, cloud computing and video.

Beijing says it will spend $150 billion from 2014 through 2030 to develop its chip industry, but even that is a fraction of what global leaders invest. TSMC plans to spend $100 billion in the next three years on research and manufacturing.

China is trying to buy experience by hiring engineers from TSMC and other Taiwanese producers. Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory and has threatened to attack, has responded by imposing curbs on job advertising.

Beijing encourages smartphone and other manufacturers to use suppliers within China, even if they cost more, but officials deny China wants to detach from global industries.

“We will never go back in history by seeking to decouple,” Xi said in a speech by video link to a November meeting of Asia-Pacific leaders in Malaysia.

The latest conflict is over photolithography, which uses ultraviolet light to etch circuits into silicon on a scale measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter.

The leader is ASML in the Netherlands, which makes machines that can etch transistors just 5 nanometers apart. That would pack 2 million into a space one centimeter wide.

China’s SMIC is about one-third as precise at 14 nanometers. Taiwan’s TSMC is preparing to increase its precision to 2 nanometers.

SMIC wants to upgrade by purchasing ASML’s latest machine, but the Dutch government has yet to agree.

“We will wait for their decision,” said an ASML spokeswoman, Monica Mols, in an email.

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即使是像阿里巴巴這樣可以設計芯片的公司，也可能需要台灣或其他外國代工廠來製造。阿里巴巴的倚天 710 對精度的要求是中國代工廠無法達到的。該公司拒絕透露將使用哪家外國生產商。

Zero Power Intelligence Group的 行業分析師 Liu Chuntian 表示, “我國在芯片技術方面仍存在較大差距” 。

中國占全球芯片產能的23%，但銷售額僅佔7.6%。

將數百萬個晶體管組裝到指甲蓋大小的矽片上需要大約 1,500 個步驟、微細精度和神秘的技術現在由少數美國、歐洲、日本和其他供應商擁有。

它們包括位於加利福尼亞的用於超精密測量的 KLA Corp., 和用於生產可以做出幾個分子厚塗層的機器的日本 TEL。許多都受到可用於武器的“雙重用途”技術的限制。

半導體行業協會在今年的一份報告中稱，中國在工具、材料和生產技術方面 “明顯落後” 。

華盛頓和歐洲以安全擔憂為由, 阻止中國芯片製造商去取得需要在精度和效率方面與全球領先者匹敵的最先進工具。

Bain 的 Hanbury 說，如果沒有這些，中國就會更落後。

他說: “台積電的馬在衝刺，中國的馬被攔住了”; “他們無法前進” 。

華盛頓去年加大了對華為的壓力，禁止全球代工廠使用美國技術去生產華為芯片。美國供應商可以向該公司出售芯片，但不能用於新一代 “5G” 智能手機。

就歐盟而言，在有人抱怨中國通過購買德國機器人製造商 Kuka 等重要資產, 侵蝕歐洲的技術領先地位後，歐盟表示將審查外國投資。

阿里巴巴的 倚天710 是基於英國 Arm 的架構，凸顯了中國對外國技術的持久需求。阿里巴巴表示，它仍將與外國的長期供應商英特爾、Arm、Nvidia Corp. 和 Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 密切合作。

平头哥(T-Head) 的第一款芯片含光 800 於 2019 年發布，用於人工智能。它的第二款玄鐵910用於自動駕駛汽車和其他功能。

在11 月，運營微信消息服務的騰訊控股發布了其首批用於人工智能、雲計算和視頻的三款芯片。

北京表示將從 2014 年到 2030 年斥資 1500 億美元發展其芯片產業，但即便如此，這也只是全球領導者投資的一小部分。台積電計劃在未來三年內斥資 1000 億美元用於研發和製造。

中國正試圖通過聘請台積電和其他台灣製造商的工程師來購買經驗。被北京聲稱是其領土的一部分並威脅要發動襲擊的台灣的回應是限制招聘廣告。

北京鼓勵智能手機和其他製造商使用中國境內的供應商，即使它們的成本更高，但官員否認中國希望脫離全球產業。

習近平在11月在馬來西亞舉行的亞太領導人會議上,通過視頻鏈接發表講話時說: “我們永遠不會重復歷史地去尋求脫鉤” 。

最新的爭持點是關於光刻技術，它使用紫外光將電路蝕刻到納米或十億分之一米大小的矽中。

領先者是荷蘭的 ASML，該公司製造的機器可以蝕刻僅相距5 納米的晶體管。這將把 200 萬個晶體管裝進一個 1 厘米寬的空間。

中國的中芯國際的精度約為其三分之一,即相距14納米。台灣台積電正準備將其精度提高到相距2納米。

中芯想通過購買ASML的最新機器進行升級，但荷蘭政府尚未同意。

ASML 發言人 Monica Mols 在一封電子郵件中說: “我們將等待它的決定” 。

         So, to help make China into a self-reliant “technology superpower,” the ruling Communist Party is pushing the world's biggest e-commerce company to take on the tricky and expensive business of designing its own processor chips. It is an ambitious plan and I am interested in knowing the result of this effort.

Note:  T-Head Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (平头哥) was founded on September 19, 2018 and is a wholly-owned semiconductor chip business entity of Alibaba Group.  T-Head possesses the terminal-cloud integrated full stack product series such as AI chip, CPU Processor IP, etc., covering end-to-end chip design process.

中國追求科技“自力更生”，增加全球不安 (1/2)

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

China pursues tech 'self-reliance,' fueling global unease (1/2)

JOE McDONALD

Mon, December 27, 2021, 7:27 PM PST

BEIJING (AP) — To help make China a self-reliant “technology superpower,” the ruling Communist Party is pushing the world's biggest e-commerce company to take on the tricky, expensive business of designing its own processor chips — a business unlike anything Alibaba Group has done before.

Its 3-year-old chip unit, T-Head, unveiled its third processor in October, the Yitian 710 for Alibaba's cloud computing business. Alibaba says for now, it has no plans to sell the chip to outsiders.

Other rookie chip developers including Tencent, a games and social media giant, and smartphone brand Xiaomi are pledging billions of dollars in line with official plans to create computing, clean energy and other technology that can build China’s wealth and global influence.

Processor chips play an increasingly critical role in products from smartphones and cars to medical devices and home appliances. Shortages due to the coronavirus pandemic are disrupting global manufacturing and adding to worries about supplies.

Chips are a top priority in the ruling Communist Party's marathon campaign to end China's reliance on technology from the United States, Japan and other suppliers Beijing sees as potential economic and strategic rivals. If it succeeds, business and political leaders warn that might slow down innovation, disrupt global trade and make the world poorer.

“Self-reliance is the foundation for the Chinese nation,” President Xi Jinping said in a speech released in March. He called for China to become a “technology superpower” to safeguard “national economic security.”

“We must strive to become the world’s main center of science and the high ground of innovation,” Xi said.

Beijing might be chasing a costly disappointment. Even with huge official investments, businesspeople and analysts say chipmakers and other companies will struggle to compete if they detach from global suppliers of advanced components and technology — a goal no other country is pursuing.

“It’s hard to imagine any one country rebuilding all of that and having the best technology,” said Peter Hanbury, who follows the industry for Bain & Co.

Beijing’s campaign is adding to tension with Washington and Europe, which see China as a strategic competitor and complain it steals technology. They limit access to tools needed to improve its industries.

If the world were to decouple, or split into markets with incompatible standards and products, U.S.- or European-made parts might not work in Chinese computers or cars. Smartphone makers who have a single dominant global operating system and two network standards might need to make unique versions for different markets. That could slow down development.

Washington and Beijing need to “avoid that the world becomes separated,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told The Associated Press in September.

China's factories assemble the world’s smartphones and tablet computers but need components from the United States, Europe, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. Chips are China’s biggest import, ahead of crude oil, at more than $300 billion last year.

Official urgency over that grew after Huawei Technologies Ltd., China’s first global tech brand, lost access to U.S. chips and other technology in 2018 under sanctions imposed by the White House.

That crippled the telecom equipment maker’s ambition to be a leader in next-generation smartphones. American officials say Huawei is a security risk and might aid Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies.

Huawei and some Chinese rivals are close to matching Intel Corp., Qualcomm Inc., South Korea’s Samsung Electronics and Britain’s Arm Ltd. at being able to design “bleeding edge” logic chips for smartphones, according to industry analysts.

But when it comes to making them, foundries such as state-owned SMIC in Shanghai are up to a decade behind industry leaders including TSMC, or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp., which produces chips for Apple Inc. and other global brands.

(to be continued)

Translation

北京（美聯社）- 為了幫助中國成為一個自力更生的“技術超級大國”，執政共產黨正在推動世界上最大的電子商務公司承擔設計自己的處理器芯片的棘手、昂貴的業務 - 這是一項阿里巴巴集團以前從未做過的類似的業務。

擁有 3 年歷史的阿里巴巴芯片部門 平头哥 (T-Head) 於 10 月推出了它的第三款處理器，即用於阿里巴巴雲計算業務的倚天 710。阿里巴巴表示，目前沒有向外界出售該芯片的計劃。

其他新秀芯片開發商，包括遊戲和社交媒體巨頭騰訊，以及智能手機品牌小米，都承諾投入數十億美元，以配合官方計劃，開發計算、清潔能源, 和其他能夠建立中國財富和世界影響力的技術能力。

從智能手機和汽車到醫療設備和家用電器的產品中, 芯片處理器發揮著越來越重要的作用。冠狀病毒大流行造成的短缺正在擾亂全球製造業，並加劇了對供應的擔憂。

芯片是執政共產黨馬拉松式運動的重中之重，旨在結束中國對美國、日本和其他被北京視為潛在經濟和戰略競爭對手的供應商的技術的依賴。如果成功，商界和政界領袖警告說，這可能會減緩創新、擾亂全球貿易並使世界變得更窮。

習近平主席在3月份發表的講話中說: “自力更生是中華民族的根本” 。他呼籲中國成為“技術超級大國”，以維護“國家經濟安全”。

習近平說: “我們要努力成為世界主要的科學中心和創新高地” 。

北京可能正在追求代價高昂的失望。即使有大量官方投資，商界人士和分析師表示，如果芯片製造商和其他公司脫離先進組件和技術的全球供應商，它們將難以競爭 - 這是其他國家沒有追求的目標。

幫助 Bain & Co. 關注該行業的 Peter Hanbury 說: “很難想像有哪個國家能夠重建所有這些並擁有最好的技術” 。

北京的活動加劇了與華盛頓和歐洲的緊張關係，後者將中國視為戰略競爭對手並抱怨中國竊取技術。他們限中國制進接對改善其行業所需的工具。

如果世界脫鉤或分裂而使標準產品不兼容的市場，美國或歐洲製造的零件可能無法在中國的計算機或汽車中使用。擁有單一主導全球操作系統和兩種網絡標準的智能手機製造商可能需要為不同的市場製作獨特的版本。這可能會減緩發展。

聯合國秘書長安東尼奧·古特雷斯 (Antonio Guterres) 在 9 月對美聯社說，華盛頓和北京需要“避免世界分離”。

中國的工廠組裝了全世界的智能手機和平板電腦，但需要來自美國、歐洲、日本、台灣和韓國的零部件。芯片是中國最大的進口商品，僅次於原油，去年進口額超過 3000 億美元。

在中國首個全球科技品牌華為技術有限公司於 2018 年因白宮實施制裁而無法獲得美國芯片和其他技術之後，中國官方對此的緊迫感有所增加。

這削弱了華為電信設備製造商成為下一代智能手機領導者的雄心。美國官員稱華為存在安全風險，可能會幫助中國從事間諜活動，但該公司否認了這一指控。

行業分析師表示，在能夠為智能手機設計 “bleeding edge” 邏輯芯片方面，華為和一些中國競爭對手已接近能與英特爾、高通、韓國三星電子和英國 Arm 公司匹敵。

但在製造方面，上海的國有中芯國際等代工廠落後於包括台積電 (TSMC) 在內的行業領導者長達十年之久，台積電為蘋果公司和其他全球品牌生產芯片。

（未完待續）