The Economist commented that this round of Sino-US trade confrontation is completely different from Trump's first term. This time, China has clearly made full preparations over the past several years, deeply thinking about how to counter the United States and how to protect its vulnerabilities. In this round of confrontation, China has actually gained the upper hand. First, China realized that the United States was targeting its high-tech sector, especially trying to limit its semiconductor development. To respond to this "stranglehold" strategy, China has invested a large amount of money to break through this constraint, while studying what technology can be purchased from other countries and what investment opportunities are available, striving to reduce the impact of the U.S. "stranglehold." Although China is still not at the forefront of the global chip industry, it has made significant progress compared to 2018. Second, China has begun to examine the vulnerable aspects of the United States, focusing particularly on one point - the United States' reliance on China's rare earth production. These rare earths are essential for high-tech, military, and various products required by the United States. If strict export controls on rare earths are enforced, this would cause the U.S. industrial production to stall. Although the United States has started to cooperate with its allies to produce rare earths, it will take many years before they can go into production. Currently, the United States can only negotiate with China.
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Original article: www.toutiao.com/article/1846931723834378/
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