What Huawei’s New Phone Means for U.S. Efforts to Crimp China
Chinese tech capacity appears to be improving, calling into question the effectiveness of American export controls.
The Huawei Mate 60 Pro. Credit: 小白测评 via Weibo
When Huawei unveiled its new flagship smartphone earlier this month, Chinese consumers discovered a device that went far beyond expectations of what the sanctioned phone maker could achieve technologically. What American officials discovered, on the other hand, was a headache.
The SMIC chip inside a Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone. Credit:微机分WekiHome
Since 2019, the U.S. has sought to undermine China’s advances in several high-tech sectors via a litany of restrictions. Sanctions imposed in May that year were supposed to stop Huawei from accessing chips capable of 5G connectivity; while sweeping export controls announced last October 7th were designed to prevent Chinese chipmakers like Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) from getting key equipment needed to fabricate cutting-edge chips.
But the arrival of Huawei’s new phone, called the Mate 60, has challenged assumptions about China’s capabilities in the face of multilateral export contr
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