Washington: President Joe Biden signed an executive order Wednesday to block and regulate high-tech U.S.-based investments going toward China a move the administration said was targeted but it also reflected an intensifying competition between the world’s two biggest powers.
The order covers advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence.
Senior administration officials said that the effort stemmed from national security goals rather than economic interests, and that the categories it covered were intentionally narrow in scope.
The order seeks to blunt China’s ability to use U.S. investments in its technology companies to upgrade its military while also preserving broader levels of trade that are vital for both nations’ economies. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce responded in a statement early Thursday that it has “serious concern” about the order and “reserves the right to take measures.”
The United States and China appear to be increasingly locked in a geopolitical competition with a conflicting set of values.