為什麼中國如此關注韓國加入美國主導的芯片聯盟的可能性？

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Why is China so concerned at the prospect of South Korea joining a US-led chip alliance?

South China Morning Post

Sat, July 23, 2022 at 2:30 AM

A US-initiated chip alliance with Asian economies, especially South Korea, is facing criticism from China, which is concerned about losing critical supplies as it seeks to build greater self-sufficiency in semiconductors, according to analysts and media reports.

The so-called Chip 4 Alliance, a partnership envisioned by the US to include South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, is seen by Beijing as Washington's plot to exclude China from semiconductor value chains, with both China's foreign ministry and commerce ministry expressing opposition to the idea.

China is particularly sensitive about the position of South Korea as the country is key to Beijing's semiconductor self-sufficiency drive. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix both have plants in China, helping the country to integrate into cross-border value chains.

Amid Washington's efforts to publicly press Seoul into joining the chip coalition, China has stepped up its rhetoric against such a move.

"South Korea should not blindly follow the US and the West in making its China policy", according to an editorial published this week by nationalist tabloid Global Times. It added that China should not be blamed if it takes "countermeasures against South Korea" if the country chooses to side with Washington.

The article echoed comments by China's foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian that China opposes the idea of "weaponising" the chip supply issue, as he urged South Korea to consider its long-term interests.

China is South Korea's biggest trade partner and of South Korea's US$69 billion memory chip exports in 2021, exports to China accounted for 48 per cent, data from the Korea International Trade Association shows.

"Decoupling from such a large market is akin to commercial suicide," according to the Global Times editorial.

Beijing's strong reaction to the notion of Seoul joining Chip 4 stems from strategic concerns about its semiconductor self-sufficiency drive, said Kim Yang-paeng, senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

"From China's point of view, Korea is not only a semiconductor supplier, but also a country where semiconductor manufacturing technology can be transferred in the long term," Kim said.

If South Korea sides with the US, cooperation in semiconductor technology between Korea and China is set to become more difficult, Kim said.

Translation

據分析師和媒體報導，美國發起的與亞洲經濟體芯片聯盟，特別是韓國, 正面臨來自中國的批評，中國擔心在尋求建立更大的半導體自給自足的過程中失去關鍵供應。

所謂的芯片四聯盟是美國設想的包括韓國、日本和台灣在內的伙伴關係，被北京認為這是華盛頓將中國排除在半導體價值鏈之外的陰謀，中國外交部和商務部都表示反對這主意。

中國對韓國的立場特別敏感，因為韓國是北京推動半導體自給自足的關鍵。三星電子和 SK 海力士都在中國設有工廠，幫助中國融入跨境價值鏈。

在華盛頓公開敦促首爾加入芯片聯盟的努力其間，中國加強了反對這一舉措的言辭。

根據民族主義小報《環球時報》本週發表的一篇社論稱， “韓國在製定對華政策時不應盲目跟隨美國和西方” 。它補充說，如果韓國選擇站在華盛頓一邊，中國對韓國採取“反制措施” 時，中國不應該受到指責。

這篇文章呼應了中國外交部發言人趙立堅的評論，即中國反對將芯片供應問題 “武器化” 的想法，他敦促韓國考慮其長期利益。

韓國國際貿易協會的數據顯示，中國是韓國最大的貿易夥伴，在 2021 年韓國 690 億美元的存儲芯片出口中，對中國的出口佔 48%。

《環球時報》社論稱， “與如此大的市場脫鉤無異於商業自殺。”

韓國產業經濟與貿易研究所高級研究員 Kim Yang-paeng 表示，北京對首爾加入 芯片四聯盟 概念的強烈反應源於對其半導體自給自足驅動的戰略擔憂。

Kim 說: “從中國的角度來看，韓國不僅是一個半導體供應商，而且長遠計是一個可以轉移半導體製造技術的國家” 。

Kim 說，如果韓國站在美國一邊，韓中半導體技術合作將變得更加困難。

              So, China is South Korea's biggest trade partner. Now China is working towards a semiconductor self-sufficiency drive. In my view, against this background, South Korea will eventually lose the China’s semiconductor market. The so-called Chip 4 Alliance, a partnership envisioned by the US may have some attraction to South Korea under such circumstance.