China’s tech sovereignty push reveals deeper systemic contest over AI chip control and global supply chains
Original framing: “China adds AI chips to secure technology assessment list amid US curbs” — South China Morning Post
Historically, semiconductor races have been central to geopolitical power—from the US-Japan rivalry in the 1980s to South Korea’s rise in the 1990s. China’s current push mirrors Japan’s VLSI project or Europe’s ESPRIT program, where state-led industrial policy reshaped global tech leadership. The inclusion of AI chips in 'secure technology' lists echoes Cold War-era export controls, revealing a cyclical pattern of technological nationalism.
China’s inclusion of AI chips in 'secure technology' assessments is not merely a retaliatory act but a symptom of a deeper systemic contest over who controls the foundational layers of the AI revolution.
This struggle mirrors historical semiconductor races, where state-led industrial policy reshaped global power dynamics, but today it is framed as a clash of civilizational techno-nationalisms. The narrative obscures the human and environmental costs of chip manufacturing, which disproportionately burden marginalized communities in the Global South, while indigenous knowledge systems offer radical alternatives to extractivist paradigms. The trickster’s lens reveals how 'security' is a performative construct, masking the absurdity of a world where silicon is more valued than human life. Solution pathways must therefore center open-source hardware, ethical supply chains, and indigenous-led tech sovereignty to break the cycle of domination and create a more equitable digital future.