A ban on the export of advanced chip manufacturing equipment to China by the Netherlands and Japan, imposes sweeping restrictions. The ban aims to contain China’s semiconductor industry and further widen America’s tech lead. But it’s not going to work.

Technology is ground zero in the conflict between the United States and China. For the American hegemon, it is about the leading edge of geostrategic power and the means for sustained prosperity. For China, it holds the key to the indigenous innovation required of a rising power. The tech war now underway between the two superpowers could well be the defining struggle of the twenty-first century.

To me, an eternal optimist, the United States and China appear more and more likely to be on a collision course for war. Recent US regulatory actions amount to nothing less than an economic and technological declaration of war against China and its 1.4 billion people.

The U.S. House speaker made a bad situation worse, and China-U.S. relations are headed to a new low. Changes can be seen on multiple fronts, but perhaps most clearly in the military dynamics between the two countries and in the chip-making regime, which has become an important chess piece in the geopolitical game.

Washington wants to build a “small chip world” for itself that is decoupled from global supply chains. This is pure fantasy. The act can neither help the U.S. achieve a secure supply chain nor rejuvenate its domestic chip manufacturing sector. And it won’t slow China down either.

The U.S. secretary of state restated and reinforced the Biden administration’s approach, proposing an “invest, align, compete” strategy for success over China. The speech revealed significant clues about the features of America’s basic strategic game ahead.

A robust semiconductor supply chain without China is out of question, while complimentary China-U.S. cooperation would make the global supply chain both complete and resilient for years to come.

As a technophile, I’ve been reflecting on one of last year’s most trending terms, “Metaverse” and what it portends. I’m an early adapter not a Luddite, nevertheless I’m not impressed, not a believer and not ready to enter an artificial, escapist virtual world of “lying flat 2.0” despite whatever bells, whistles and diversions this Metaverse, as I call it, may offer.

Artificial intelligence’s many applications have the potential to change daily life for people worldwide. It also has the potential to reshape military power in the future. With China and the U.S. locked into a power struggle, this is one area where both sides have great incentive to leapfrog the other.

China is on the cutting-edge of information technology, providing consumer electronics and telecommunications equipment to much of the world. Its own digital infrastructure is due for a modest upgrade that will be rolled out by 2023.