Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:
Huawei's new chip breakthrough likely to trigger closer
US scrutiny -analysts (1/2)
Tue, September 5, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. PDT
By David Kirton and Max A. Cherney
SHENZHEN, China/SAN FRANCISCO, California (Reuters) - Huawei Technologies' breakthrough in making an advanced chip underscores China's determination and capacity for fighting back against U.S. sanctions, but the efforts are likely very costly and could prompt Washington to tighten curbs, analysts said.
Huawei unexpectedly unveiled the latest Mate 60 Pro smartphone last week during U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's visit in China, as the government readies a new $40-billion investment fund to bolster its developing chip sector.
The Mate 60 Pro is powered by its proprietary chip Kirin 9000s and manufactured by the country's top contract chipmaker SMIC using an advanced 7 nanometre (nm) technology, according to a teardown by Ottawa-headquartered TechInsights.
Its findings and claims by early users about the phone's powerful performance indicate China is making some headway into developing high-end chips, even as Washington has over the recent years ramped up sanctions to cut its access to advanced chipmaking tools.
It "demonstrates the technical progress China’s semiconductor industry has been able to make without EUV tools. The difficulty of this achievement also shows the resilience of the country’s chip technological ability," TechInsights analyst Dan Hutcheson said.
EUV refers to extreme ultraviolet lithography and is used to make 7 nm or more advanced chips.
"At the same time, it is a great geopolitical challenge to the countries who have sought to restrict its access to critical manufacturing technologies. The result may likely be even greater restrictions than what exist today."
Jefferies analysts said TechInsights' findings could trigger a probe from the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security, create more debate in the U.S. about the effectiveness of sanctions and prompt the Congress to include even harsher tech sanctions in a competition bill it is preparing against China.
"Overall the US-China tech war is likely to escalate," they said in a note.
A U.S. Department of Commerce representative did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday morning.
Huawei declined to comment. SMIC and China's State Council, which handles press queries on behalf of the Chinese government, did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
(to be continued)
Translation
中國深圳/加利福尼亞州舊金山（路透社） - 分析人士表示，華為技術公司在製造先進芯片方面取得的突破凸顯了中國反擊美國製裁的決心和能力，但這些努力可能代價高昂，並可能促使華盛頓收緊限制。
上週，在美國商務部長雷蒙多訪華期間，華為出人意料地推出了最新的Mate 60 Pro 智能手機，當時中國政府準備設立一項新的400 億美元投資基金，以支持其發展中的芯片行業。
根據總部位於渥太華的 TechInsights 的拆解，Mate 60 Pro 搭載其專有芯片 Kirin 9000s，由該國頂級代工芯片製造商中芯國際 (SMIC) 使用先進的 7 納米 (nm) 技術製造。
其拆解結果及早期用家聲稱該手機有強大性能的表明，儘管華盛頓近年來加大了製裁力度，以減少其獲得先進芯片製造工具的機會，但中國在開發高端芯片方面正在取得一些進展。
TechInsights分析師 Dan Hutcheson 表示，它 “展示了中國半導體行業在沒有EUV工具的情況下能夠取得的技術進步。這一成就的難度也顯示了該國芯片技術能力的韌性。”
EUV是指極紫外光刻，用於製造7納米或更先進的芯片。
“與此同時，對於那些試圖限制其獲得關鍵製造技術的國家來說，這是一個巨大的地緣政治挑戰。結果可能是會有比現在更嚴重的限制。”
Jefferies分析師表示，TechInsights 的調查結果可能會引發美國商務部工業與安全局的探索，在美國引發更多關於製裁有效性的辯論，並促使國會在其正在準備的競爭法案中納入更嚴厲的科技制裁中國。
他們在一份報告中表示： “總體而言，中美科技戰可能會升級。”
美國商務部代表週二上午沒有立即回復置評請求。
華為拒絕置評。 中芯國際和代表中國政府處理媒體詢問的中國國務院沒有立即回應置評請求。
（待續）
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