Commentary: Trade war, a turning point for China's technological innovation

Source: Xinhua| 2019-05-28 20:12:47|Editor: Li Xia
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BEIJING, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. government's decision to blacklist Huawei is ill-intentioned. But it could also be a turning point for the world's second-largest economy to strengthen independent innovation and reduce its dependence on imported technology.

Huawei, along with other Chinese technology companies, has become an easy target for the United States to contain China, a strategic rival in the eye of the current U.S. administration.

It is a shame to see the United States, once the trumpeter of the open economy, took a unilateral and protectionist approach and used its state power against Huawei, a Chinese multinational company.

The U.S. hostility is built upon the prominence of the Chinese technology heavyweight. Huawei has excelled in the development of 5G technology. It seems that the United States is far away from getting accustomed to a "new normal" that state-of-the-art technology does not originate from America, but China.

Even U.S. telecom carriers are with Huawei, as they benefit from safe, reliable and low-priced Huawei products and services.

The U.S. ban on Huawei underlines a new U.S. mentality full of anxiety, jealousy and lack of confidence.

In fact, the United States may be too anxious about China's technology prowess. China has made stunning progress in technology development, but realistically, it still has a long way to go before it becomes a major technology power.

The U.S. restriction is a wake-up call for China to cast away illusion, cut off dependence on the U.S., and become self-reliant on the supply of core technology. Good to hear the news that Huawei has been developing its own operating system.

In fact, China has many leverages to use in order to master its own fate: a complete industrial chain, a vast consumer market, and an abundant young talent pool... With these resources, China must seriously promote indigenous innovation by ditching any blind faith to authority and the so-called foreign model, guarding against complacency, and immerse itself in basic research while turning knowledge into productivity.

It is unrealistic for the United States to stop China's technological rise simply through bans and blacklists. It is difficult to imagine that Washington would be able to stop the development of the world's most dynamic economy.

It is time for the United States to focus on its own business and compete with China in a decent way.

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