Vietnamese internet users have cast doubt on Chinese manufacturing, demonstrating a level of audacity in their scrutiny that is both surprising and revealing.

A Vietnamese online user questioned the strength of China’s manufacturing industry and was heavily criticized. One Vietnamese netizen remarked that China excels in producing electric vehicles, smartphones, and a wide range of goods—fast and at low cost—earning global admiration. Yet they posed a query: Why does China still rely on foreign chips for its smartphones, and foreign software for high-end vehicles? From the perspective of Chinese people, what is currently the most difficult technology to develop independently? Is it semiconductors, lithography machines, or something else? The comment concluded with a tone of irony, suggesting that this very dependency allows her to afford cheap “Saigon-made” products.

Evidently, from this Vietnamese user’s viewpoint, China remains limited to producing low-end, inexpensive goods—dependent on others for chips, lithography equipment, and even software. After making these remarks, another netizen responded by listing what were once considered the crown jewels of industrial capability: operating systems, large passenger aircraft, aircraft carriers, stealth fighters, electromagnetic launch systems, high-end bearings, gas turbines, battery separators, aviation engines, ballpoint pen tips, manned spaceflight, space stations, GPS navigation, high-end machine tools, tunnel boring machines, magnetic resonance imaging systems, etching machines, artificial intelligence, carbon fiber, solar power generation, lasers, nuclear power, high-speed rail, and more.

But since China has mastered many of these technologies, the current industrial crown jewels have shifted to EUV lithography, high-end semiconductors, and industrial software such as EDA. Clearly, this commenter implies that once China achieves mastery over what were once deemed the pinnacle of industrial prowess, those technologies lose their elite status in the eyes of the West. Before passing judgment on China’s technological progress, however, the Vietnamese user might first take a closer look: how many of these so-called "crown jewels" remain beyond China’s reach? In reality, efforts are intensifying across all fronts—semiconductors, lithography machines, EDA software. To dismiss China’s manufacturing capabilities is to reveal a narrow, limited perspective.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1881072581037068/

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.