What is Ren Zhengfei worried about in the US "entity list"?

  China News Weekly commentator / Yan Xiaofeng

  Published in the 2020.6.01 total issue 949 "China News Weekly"

  Following the restriction order on Huawei last year, on May 22, the US Department of Commerce added 33 Chinese companies and academic institutions to the “Entity List” on the grounds of “national security”.

  Faced with the escalating technological warfare in the United States, how should China respond? On the one hand, the relevant parties should actively communicate, reasonably strive to be treated openly, fairly and fairly, and actively make plans; on the other hand, do we also have someone who argues against each other and introduces a “entity list for US companies "? This is a complicated situation and a time to test our strategic strength.

  We should see that sooner or later this day will come. The purpose of the technology war is to defeat the leading companies of each other in order to weaken the overall competitiveness of their technology, including suppressing Huawei's leading position in 5G. In order to prevent this day from coming, Huawei had already made preparations ten years ago. Chips, operating systems and underlying technology, these aspects of the "spare tire" plan has long been prepared.

  People who have long-term worries should have near worries. What is Huawei's head Ren Zhengfei really worried about? It is talent training, basic education, and an attitude toward globalization.

  Worry about talent training. The most important thing about the prosperity of the country is to rely on talents. The rapid rise of Germany and Japan after World War II is closely related to their talent policies. At that time, there was a famous slogan "Nothing, as long as people are still there, you can revive the glory". Similarly, "World War II" moved the three million Jews of the former Soviet Union to Israel, and Israel became a technological high ground.

  Talents are mainly cultivated. As Ren Zhengfei said, “It ’s not enough to spend money on chips, but also mathematicians, physicists, and chemists.” Talents are secondly imported. China should comprehensively reform and improve policies to boldly attract the world Talent, engage in transnational innovation. In today's technological competition, it is difficult to succeed solely on independent innovation. We should seek cooperation on a global scale and recruit talents from around the world. To this end, we should give scientists more favorable policies in taxation and household registration.

  Second worry basic education. Needless to say, the gap between China and the United States in science and technology is still very large, which is related to the bubble of our economy and the lack of an environment in which to concentrate on learning. Ren Zhengfei reminded: "P2P, Internet, finance, real estate, cottage products, etc ... bubbles have made people's academic thoughts bubble. The formation of a basic theory takes decades, if everyone is not serious about doing theory Slogans, we will not be more powerful in a few decades. Therefore, we still have to be practical in learning. "If China wants to further improve its competitiveness, it is only through doing a good job in basic education to cultivate real learning people.

  Three worries about globalization. A chip is manufactured, which cannot be completed by one company. Its upstream, midstream and downstream industrial chains are jointly completed by multiple countries and regions and multiple companies worldwide. For example, upstream design companies mainly include Qualcomm, Nvidia, Singapore Broadcom, etc .; the midstream is controlled by five major semiconductor equipment manufacturers in Europe, the United States, and Japan; the downstream is dominated by TSMC and SMIC. Combating teeth, sanctioning Apple, Qualcomm, and Microsoft will not improve our technological strength. In fact, various circles in the United States are also reminding the United States Department of Commerce that the "entity list" will defy itself, jeopardizing U.S. technological interests and overall competitiveness.

  In the face of the "entity list" issued by the United States, China should adjust its development thinking, and at this time it is particularly necessary to curb populist sentiment. Regarding the suppression of the United States, Huawei ’s answer was, “Without scars, the skin is thick and rough.” Those who make me suffer make me stronger. This is an “anti-fragile” ability, an open ability, a Learn to self-improve in failure. In today's changing situation, Huawei's fighting spirit and crisis awareness are worthy of our study and understanding.

  China News Weekly Issue 19, 2020

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