November 29, 2022

New US Export Controls Need Allied Support

While national security concerns triggered the October 7 U.S. Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) export control rule, human rights were not an afterthought.

The new U.S. rule targets exports of advanced node chips and supercomputers to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), as well as U.S. persons and equipment that support Chinese development and production. This goes beyond previous measures that restricted commercial chips to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and added a number of its affiliates to the U.S. entity list, in part due to its connection to PRC surveillance efforts.

Japan and the Netherlands must enact similar advanced chip controls to ensure they do not enable the very practices they denounce.

Analysts have focused on how the new controls will interrupt Chinese defense technology development, including conventional weapons, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), hypersonic weapons, and cognitive electronic warfare capabilities. Less discussed is how they will curb China’s ongoing human rights violations by cutting off key inputs necessary to maintain its surveillance state.

In addition to hard defense technologies, advanced chips power the artificial intelligence (AI) systems and supercomputers that allow China to process massive amounts of personal data from a range of inputs – including phone trackers, biometric markers, and e-commerce and travel records – to monitor and chart minority or dissident targets across the country.

Read the full article from The Diplomat.

  • Reports
    • March 20, 2025
    Countering the Digital Silk Road: Indonesia

    This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Digital Silk Road (DSR), China’s ambitious initiative to shape critical digital infrastructure around the world to advance its geop...

    By Vivek Chilukuri & Ruby Scanlon

  • Video
    • March 20, 2025
    How Secure Is America’s AI Advantage?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7njJkH7XRa8...

    By Paul Scharre

  • Commentary
    • March 17, 2025
    The Development of an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Plan

    Strengthening and securing America’s AI dominance is crucial for U.S. national security and economic competitiveness...

    By Vivek Chilukuri, Michael Depp, Bill Drexel, Janet Egan, Paul Scharre, Josh Wallin, Becca Wasser & Caleb Withers

  • Podcast
    • March 17, 2025
    ChinaTalk: Building Compute in America

    Despite leading the world in AI innovation, there’s no guarantee that America will rise to meet the challenge of AI infrastructure. Specifically, the key technological barrier...

    By Tim Fist & Jordan Schneider

View All Reports View All Articles & Multimedia