China condemns the decision of the United States to block a Chinese state-backed from U.S. suppliers. The United States officials claim that the firm stoles intellectual property and, on a statement in the WTO on Tuesday, China said that the U.S. breaks World Trade Organization rules and it is aimed at protecting a U.S. monopoly.
The U.S. Commerce Department placed Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co Ltd on a list of companies that are banned from purchasing components, software, and technology goods from U.S. based firms.
Recently, Micron Technology Inc. (MU.O), a U.S. semiconductor company known to produce memory chips in its factories in Virginia and Utah, accused the Chinese firm and its Taiwanese partner, the United Microelectronics Corp <2303> of stealing its chip designs through a lawsuit filed in California.
Reuters cited a Chinese official's statement to the WTO saying that they are considering the ban as an unwarranted charge and China is firmly opposing the presumption of guilt to their companies. According to reports, Washington expressed their concern that the Chinese firm could flood the market with cheap chips of the same type originally made by U.S. companies which are used in the U.S. military.
The United States fears that if the U.S. chipmakers go out of business, its military may lose a supplier for an item that needs to be produced by the United States which will present a national security threat.
According to the Chinese official's statement, Jinhua's production is not yet operational and it is far from threatening DRAM (dynamic random access memory) circuit developers in the United States.
He said that in their point of view, the real purpose of the U.S. measures is to maintain the monopoly interests of the U.S. DRAM industry.
The Chinese company and its partner filed a countersuit in China against Micron. According to reports some of Micron's chips are already banned in China.
Recently, United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions claimed that China is backing the accused Scheme of the Chinese and Taiwanese companies. The two companies are said to have stolen an estimated U.S. $8.75 billion worth of trade secrets of Micron.
According to Sessions, taken together, the cases and many others like China paints a grim picture of a country bent on stealing its way up the ladder of economic development and they are doing it at American expense. He added that this behavior is illegal and it is a treat to the United States national security.
