China and the United States have long been at odds over privacy and security.
As mainland China makes threatened advances toward the island of Taiwan, relations between the two superpowers are strained.
The Chinese government has banned Micron Technology Inc., the maker of memory chips used in some computer systems.
Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, defended the ban saying that a security review of Micron was made in “accordance with the law.
Micron’s chief financial officer Mark Murphy said that Micron would be evaluating the impact of the ban and plans to cooperate with the Chinese regulator to resolve the problem.
Mao went on to say that China doesn’t target specific regions or countries when doing a cybersecurity review of products. China doesn’t exclude products or technology from any country.
No details were forthcoming from the Cyberspace Administration of China as to what security risks Micron posed, and they banned them from any computers that are used to handle sensitive information.
Mao complained about the United States security restrictions on more than 1,200 companies in China with no verifiable proof. She said the United States is using security as its reason to suppress Chinese products and companies.
Chinese actions toward Taiwan and other Asian nations prompted Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States for national security to block the Chinese from accessing technology used to make advanced computer chips.
U.S. vendors have lost potential sales to Chinese chip foundries, smartphone makers, and other customers in the billions of dollars. Washington and its trading partners restrict access to the tools to make chips reducing China’s attempts to create its own chip production.
Chinese chip making is stalled because they need a one-of-a-kind machine from a Dutch company that etches microscopic circuits using ultraviolet light to create chips used in artificial intelligence and smartphones.
Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch Minister, said that his government’s position has not changed, and he shares concerns about chip security.
