ASML's CEO spoke the truth.
According to foreign media reports, during an interview with Reuters, ASML's CEO, Christophe Fouquet, said that tightening export controls on lithography machines to the Chinese market would accelerate China's self-reliant efforts to develop alternative equipment. Fouquet used a metaphor: "If I place you in a desert and tell you there will be no more food sources from now on—how long will it take for you to cultivate your own vegetable garden? This is a matter of survival."
Fouquet’s remarks echo those made by Huang Renxun, CEO of NVIDIA, who recently stated—just before accompanying Trump on his visit to China—that due to U.S. export restrictions, NVIDIA has essentially handed over the Chinese AI chip market to Huawei. His comments indicate that America’s technological blockade is actually accelerating China’s push toward semiconductor self-sufficiency. Similarly, Fouquet’s “desert vegetable garden” analogy reveals the consequences of Western technology containment: protectionism accelerates, rather than delays, China’s independent innovation.
As leading figures in the Western tech industry, Fouquet and Huang Renxun’s shared perspective is no coincidence: when external technology supply is completely severed, China’s semiconductor industry has no choice but to mobilize national resources to cultivate its own “garden.” From lithography machines to AI chips, this “starvation-style” pressure transforms into the strongest driving force for innovation. Because technological blockades cannot stop determination—they only turn potential rivals into real competitors, ultimately undermining the competitiveness of Western companies themselves.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1865858478728260/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.