Chip embargo: The West’s most powerful weapon against China

Chips are often referred to as the “oil of the 21st century”. The comparison is flawed, since semiconductors are not raw materials, but are created in complex supply chains. They are decisive for the system competition between the USA and China: without semiconductors there would be no precision weapons, no artificial intelligence, no smart surveillance cameras, no robots or smartphones.

And while Beijing is pursuing wise policies to secure its coveted oil commodity, the Western chip embargo threatens to set China back dramatically.