This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

This is Ting with your latest Beijing Bytes, where cyber drama meets geopolitical theatre and the tech war’s only getting hotter. Let’s dive right into this epic US-China tech standoff, where hacks, laws, and chip wars have packed these past weeks tighter than a Beijing subway at rush hour.

First, cybersecurity—oh, what a show. Just last week, CrowdStrike’s 2025 Global Threat Report confirmed what every hacker and grandma with a webcam already knows: Chinese state-backed hacking has exploded, clocking a 150% jump in activity. The headliner? Chinese espionage groups running amok, like Salt Typhoon compromising not just random small fry but giants such as Viasat and the US Treasury, with malware that’s so sneaky it makes your VPN blush. Meanwhile, Phantom Taurus, a newly dubbed China-nexus group, is hitting ministries and embassies across Asia and Africa with their own flavor of custom malware—imagine malware with a ninja invisibility cloak. Palo Alto Networks barely tracked them, but one thing is clear: these folks are all about stealth and persistence.

Meanwhile, over in China, regulators say nyet to cyber-edge-case reporting delays. Under the new Cyberspace Administration rule, critical infrastructure operators who get hacked must spill the beans within one hour—yup, while your coffee’s still hot. Fail to do so? Prepare for legal doom. Ironically, China is tightening its domestic cyber fortress while its own hackers roam far and wide—the digital equivalent of locking your doors while launching water balloons at the neighbors.

Stateside, all eyes are on the evolving TikTok saga—Donald Trump dropped a fresh executive order to force TikTok’s US spinout, with Oracle and Silver Lake now in the driver’s seat. ByteDance gets only a 20% stake and no peeking at security decisions, but Beijing’s keeping its poker face, signaling a “basic framework consensus,” but final approval’s still up in the air. Experts say this TikTok deal sets precedent for global tech de-coupling, but leaves both sides with new leverage plays for months to come.

Industry-wise, the chip wars are anything but chill. While Nvidia’s Jensen Huang says China is “nanoseconds behind” the US in AI chips, Beijing’s AI ecosystem is sprinting. Companies like Huawei and DeepSeek are now building advanced homegrown AI chips, luring away the dependency on Nvidia. Meanwhile, Shanghai green-lit the IPO of Moore Threads, a US-sanctioned AI chip developer, proving China’s not just playing catch-up, but changing the game—in a very literal sense. Supply chain paranoia is rising on both sides, with Apple ramping up its “China plus one” strategy, shifting more assembly to India and Vietnam—Tim Cook’s personal version of strategic ambiguity.

On Capitol Hill, tech is the new frontier for legislative land wars. Congress added amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act targeting competition in AI, semiconductors, and rare earths. Trump signed off on a $100,000 H-1B fee to restrict foreign tech talent, nudged by rising nationalism but irking Big Tech. Meanwhile, the FTC and courts are slapping AI firms with new privacy and copyright scrutiny, and a pile of fresh American bills aim to pre-empt state AI regulations and build federal regulatory sandboxes, courtesy of Ted Cruz and Michael Baumgartner.

Where is this headed? The next Trump-Xi showdown at the APEC summit in Seoul looms huge, with tariffs cooling off for now but no shortage of drama expected—think trade policy wrapped in 5G wires and robot boot camps. The biggest strategic implication? According to South China Morning Post, both powers are hardening for a protracted, zero-sum contest where innovation, security, and influence will be measured in machine learning cycles and lines of code. My forecast: the tech decoupling dance is far from finished, so keep your eyes on Shanghai, Silicon Valley, and everything in between.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

You’re plugged in with Ting on Beijing Bytes—yes, it’s actually Ting, your favorite tech geek and certified China watcher, here to break down the latest twists in the US-China tech slugfest that’s been hotter than a data center meltdown.

Let’s get straight to the juiciest byte: just today, the US Commerce Department slammed down an export control rule that expands the blacklist to hit subsidiaries majority-owned by sanctioned Chinese companies like Huawei and Yangtze Memory Technologies. It’s a move designed to keep US tech—from AI chips to the fanciest chipmaking tools—out of Chinese reach by closing the classic subsidiary loophole. Now if a company is 50% or more owned by a blacklisted parent, boom, you’re blacklisted too, and good luck getting that GPU or advanced photolithography kit. China’s Commerce Ministry, predictably, isn’t thrilled, calling it “unreasonable suppression” and vowing countermeasures. Washington, meanwhile, claims it’s just about plugging national security leaks but let’s be real, this is about squeezing China’s ambitions in AI, semiconductors, and next-gen comms while Beijing scrambles to harden supply chains with its own “tech self-reliance” push.

But these new rules are also giving every export compliance officer on both sides a splitting headache. Disrupted supply chains, more due diligence, and a serious chill in international chip and telecom trade—analysts at Asia Financial think this will make it even harder for global firms to figure out if they’re running afoul of Washington.

Shifting to the digital trenches, there’s been a major cyber drama. Cisco just confirmed a wave of hacks targeting hundreds of their firewall devices inside US government systems. CISA—the US government’s cyber body—sent out a full-blown emergency directive because hackers exploited zero-day flaws that persist even through reboots, giving them persistent access to sensitive networks. Intriguingly, Cisco’s investigation and independent threat intel firms like Palo Alto Networks are connecting these attacks to Chinese espionage groups—they call this campaign ArcaneDoor. Attackers disabled security logs, dodged forensics, and basically went full spy-ninja.

And not to be outdone, Cisco Talos threat researchers surfaced fresh attacks using the PlugX and RainyDay backdoors—malware families linked to the Naikon group out of China—mainly hitting Asian telcos and manufacturing. The code is slick: DLL sideloading, encrypted payloads, and a tendency to share algorithm tricks across malware strains. The big brains at Talos think there’s real crossover between Naikon and BackdoorDiplomacy, hinting Chinese offensive cyber teams might be sharing tools or working off the same blueprint—imagine rival ninja clans using the same set of lockpicks.

On the industry front, the US compelled a TikTok restructuring that’ll leave 80% of the US arm with American investors, but China’s ByteDance keeps a minority stake. Oracle and a phalanx of US national security goons will now watch TikTok’s algorithm and US user data like hawks. Experts say this could become the model for “clean” foreign tech allowed into the States. If enforced as promised, TikTok may go from data privacy pariah to poster child of American digital hygiene.

Looking ahead, strategic thinkers from Foreign Affairs are ringing the alarm bell—the old US tech edge is eroding as China ramps up shipbuilding, missile inventory, and military AI crunch. The US is betting on a “third offset” of networked sensors, unmanned systems, and precision weapons to keep pace, but some Pentagon folks like Admiral Paparo are nervous that the Chinese defense-industrial complex is now out-iterating Washington.

Long story short: both sides are innovating, hacking, and restricting at breakneck speed. The US wants to freeze China out of tomorrow’s chips and platforms, while China both doubles down on homegrown innovation and punches back in cyberspace. The next twelve months? Buckle up, it’s only going to get wilder.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Welcome back, Beijing Bytes listeners—it’s Ting here, your source for all things China, hacking, and everything in between. What a fortnight for the US-China tech smackdown. Grab your popcorn, because things have exploded across cybersecurity, tech restrictions, wild policy pivots, and more intrigue than your favorite spy movie.

Let’s start with the freshest cyber drama. US federal agencies were jolted by a major CISA alert after a zero-day hacking campaign targeting Cisco ASA devices was traced back to Chinese-linked infrastructure hosted by, wait for it—Tencent and ChinaNet. Cisco calls the threat actor ArcaneDoor, and claims “high confidence” in the Chinese nexus. The operation exploited flaws so persistent, the usual system reboot and patch dance just didn’t work. CISA’s Chris Butera, at a FedScoop panel, minced no words on the near-impossible scale of the problem—over 40,000 new vulnerabilities disclosed last year alone. If you’re keeping score, agencies have patched over 99% of them, mostly thanks to AI and automation, but still, the threat feels like endless Whac-A-Mole.

Meanwhile, China’s counter-move: they just unleashed regulations mandating a one-hour reporting window for any cybersecurity incidents impacting a province or ten million citizens. Aggressive? Yes. Effective? Probably. Compare this to US SEC rules, which give companies four days to fess up after a breach. China’s making sure disruptions don’t catch their pants down and, as usual, exporting their model for fast detection and response—think less bureaucracy, more cyber ninja agility.

On the restriction front, the FCC is slamming the door on Chinese-controlled testing labs—15 have now been denied recognition or been booted for national security risk. Why? Private labs certify if electronics bound for the US are safe, and the FCC is paranoid about spyware or sneaky backdoors. As Russ Walker of the Rainey Freedom Project says, Chinese electronics firms like Hikvision, Dahua, TP-Link, and DJI are all over US schools and police stations—if these gadgets are talking to Beijing, it’s not pillow talk. With 75% of electronics previously tested in China, Washington’s new rules could seriously slow the global tech trade and shift the balance of manufacturing.

TikTok fans, you’re still not in the clear. President Trump, in an executive order this week, gave ByteDance until December 16 to divest most of its stake in TikTok’s US operations—under the new law, US citizens must control the app. That’s 170 million American users in limbo! Both sides are spinning the deal as a win, but the national security chess match continues, with Beijing pressing for more diplomatic concessions on Taiwan while Trump pushes for economic cooperation.

Let’s not skip the parade—China’s military just rolled out its Information Operations Group, a cyber-electronic force designed for future wars. This makes clear that Beijing is not just playing defense anymore; it’s building out capabilities for data manipulation, fake news warfare, and lightning-fast electronic strikes.

Expert foresight? Nvidia’s Jensen Huang warns that China is “nanoseconds behind” in chipmaking and that US restrictions risk driving innovation further underground. A recent deal allows Nvidia H20 chips into China, but only after a hefty 15% of those sales go to the US government coffers. Choke points like these mean semiconductor supremacy will be a story of regulatory horse-trading and stealth development—expect both sides to keep pushing the limits.

Long-term, these moves point to deeper bifurcation—two tech universes, two cyber philosophies, one unrelenting rivalry. If you like your geopolitics high-voltage and your firewalls battle-tested, stick with Beijing Bytes.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Listeners, Ting here coming at you direct from Beijing Bytes, where the only thing evolving faster than AI is the US-China tech rivalry—I mean, if you blinked over the past two weeks, you might’ve missed a major plot twist. Let’s jack in.

First up: cybersecurity chaos. U.S. federal agencies hit a red alert after a new campaign of zero-day hacks tore through Cisco firewall equipment. According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, teams were racing to disconnect breached devices and plug vulnerabilities before Chinese state-backed hackers—yes, Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 and Microsoft’s Storm-1849 have their fingers pointing at China—could do more damage. These attackers bypassed logging, crashed gear to confuse diagnostics, and, get this, could persist through reboots. Security folks are calling this not just a wakeup call but a full-on fire drill, especially as exploits go public and copycats pile in. If you’re running legacy Cisco kit, it’s probably a doorstop now.

Now slide into policy and restrictions. The Trump administration (yep, still an active player) just hammered home a TikTok restructuring deal, forcing Oracle to take the data reins and mandating U.S. ownership. Critics eye this as crony capitalism, but insiders say it’s about appeasing national security hawks without nuking TikTok’s U.S. business. Meanwhile, tariff after tariff—on semiconductors, EVs, robotics—has kicked traditional supply chains into overdrive. U.S. tech companies are sprinting to Vietnam and Mexico for manufacturing, and Chinese gadget exports to the U.S. are down by 70% since late 2024. It’s “competitive coexistence,” but the gloves are off.

China isn’t standing still. In retaliation for U.S. defense deals with Taiwan, Beijing just slammed six more American firms, like Saronic and Aerkomm, with “unreliable entity” designations—translation: banned from trading in China. Three more snapped up on the export control list, blocking “dual use” tech shipments. On the home front, Huawei is swerving around restrictions via some highly original architecture magic, linking up clusters of its own AI chips to match—in some cases, punch above—Nvidia’s performance envelopes. As one analyst in Shanghai put it this week, the real AI war is less about chips and more about who's inventing the next way around limits.

Strategically, the split is sending industry tremors worldwide. The U.S. CHIPS and Science Act and relentless export controls push for tech autonomy, but over 80% of iPhones in American stores are still built in China. China, for its part, is pouring billions into AI and R&D, leapfrogging sanctions via cloud loopholes and dominating mature-node chip production. Investor money? Shifting to Southeast Asia and Africa, where governments juggle security compliance and volatility.

Looking ahead, experts warn that supply chains will stay fragmented. We’ll see more AI innovation sprints from Chinese companies like DeepSeek—a name to watch, especially after their algorithmic breakthroughs rattled U.S. chip valuations. Meanwhile, both sides escalate self-reliance, and allies are forced into a tech Cold War, piecing together new partnerships out of necessity rather than ideology.

Thanks for tuning in to Beijing Bytes, listeners. Don’t forget to subscribe for your next byte of truth, because in tech and geopolitics, the only constant is change. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Listeners, Ting here, and wow – talk about a cyber rollercoaster these last two weeks! Buckle up as we byte into the latest on the US-China tech war, straight from Beijing Bytes.

Let’s start with the biggest headline: Chinese hackers have been running some wild, next-level campaigns inside US cybersecurity firms, SaaS providers, and legal services. Google’s Threat Intelligence Group and Mandiant uncovered the stealthy malware called Brickstorm, used by the China-linked UNC5221 group. What’s the catch? These hackers have stuck around inside target networks for over a year, siphoning off intellectual property and probing for zero-day vulnerabilities. Why does it matter? This is not just industrial espionage—it's national security, with the hackers digging for info tied to US defense and international trade. John Hultquist from Google called it “next-level activity.” If you’re a US tech or legal outfit, check your logs—you might not even know if you’re a victim.

In the policy sphere, President Trump’s administration is not holding back. We’re seeing new restrictions slamming the brakes on products with vehicle connectivity systems linked to China, aiming to block any tech that could send sensitive data across the Pacific. The implications range from carmakers like Ford and Tesla grappling with compliance to Chinese giants such as BYD rethinking international supply chains. The Biden-to-Trump regulatory pendulum continues to swing, favoring national security over free trade, much to the chagrin of multinational tech titans.

A curveball from Beijing: Premier Li Qiang just announced China will stop claiming developing-nation perks at the World Trade Organization. After years of US pressure, China is ditching special benefits that allowed more time for implementing trade reforms and lower market-opening quotas. WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called this move "major news," but don’t break out the confetti just yet. Wendy Cutler from Asia Society says it’s “years too late” and won’t change the deep-rooted trade friction overnight. Chinese exports keep climbing, tariffs or not, and Li Chenggang wasted no time accusing Washington of “unilateralism and protectionism.”

Strategically, let’s talk AI—because China is now the undisputed heavyweight champ in AI research output. DeepSeek, last year’s launch, kicked off an avalanche: China leads in patents by a factor of ten and generates more research than the US, EU, and UK combined. The US is scrambling to secure research pipelines and restrict collaboration with China-based talent—for example, the Pentagon is now banning US tech vendors from employing anyone based in China for sensitive projects. Jürgen Wastl at Digital Science warns that without sharper research intelligence and rigorous network mapping, America might be building its digital future on shifting sands.

And did someone say batteries? China has weaponized its battery supply chain dominance, leveraging state subsidies and price manipulation to choke off US industrial resilience. Elaine Dezenski and Josh Birenbaum from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies say this hits America’s military supply chain and core industries. Think lithium bottleneck – it’s not just a market edge, it’s a strategic lever on global mobility and security.

So, what’s on the horizon? Experts see both countries doubling down—China betting on AI and supply chain control, the US raising regulatory walls and revamping research security. But with stealthy new malware and shifting WTO rules, the tech competition has gone from trade war to a full-on battle for digital and strategic supremacy. Don’t blink, because the next zero-day could tip the balance.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Big week on the Beijing Bytes, so plug in, listeners, because the US-China tech war has truly entered Beast Mode. Let’s start with the bombshell: over eight million Americans had their data leaked thanks to the Salt Typhoon cyberattack. Yes, you heard that right—according to WebProNews, Chinese state-sponsored hackers apparently waltzed into US telecom networks, scooping up call records, personal messages, and geolocations, including those of political heavy-hitters. The attackers used zero-day exploits to dodge detection for months, turning outdated telecom systems into Swiss cheese. The result? Not just privacy nightmares, but real headaches for national security—think National Guard files and deployment plans in hostile hands. CISA and the FBI have gone into overdrive, pushing AI-powered threat detection and organizing incident response like it’s DEFCON One.

In the midst of this chaos, President Biden’s Executive Order 14105 is still the elephant tap-dancing through the chip factory: no more US cash for Chinese semis, AI, or quantum ventures. The Treasury didn’t just ban direct investments—they’ve clamped down on debt, joint ventures, and even those sneaky indirect deals. Over 50 Chinese tech firms, including Integrity Technology Group, have been blacklisted over links to cyberattacks and military ops. The net effect? Chinese firms are scrambling, especially in semiconductors and AI. They can’t get US equipment, and AI startups are being ghosted by Western investors. Sectors like autonomous vehicles and drones are taking a direct hit, and the TikTok divestiture drama remains stuck in political limbo.

But plot twist—while China’s exports to the US cratered by a mind-melting 70% in August, Goldman Sachs points out China is still humming along, shipping tech to Europe and emerging markets. Asian neighbors like Taiwan and Vietnam have filled the US gap, with Taiwan’s exports—mostly advanced chips and server parts—soaring 30%. Meanwhile, Huawei just pulled a Houdini, bypassing Nvidia’s chips with its own breakthrough for AI, while Tencent and Alibaba are betting big on homegrown AI processors as China tries to shake itself free from foreign tech dependencies.

Then, on the home front, Beijing fired back by launching an anti-monopoly probe into Nvidia, all while Chinese agencies fast-tracked new rules: the Cyberspace Administration of China unveiled a strict cybersecurity-incident reporting mandate to kick in by November, standardizing how companies must confess breaches or face steep penalties.

Analysts say these salvos signal a full-court decoupling: the US piles on security rules—like the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act—forbidding sensitive info from going east, while Chinese regulators tighten data localization and reporting. Meanwhile, US cybersecurity firms are popping champagne—Booz Allen Hamilton just landed a $421 million gig with CISA, and new government tech contracts are in the billions.

Strategic implications? The supply chain shuffle is permanent. US investors are fleeing China-facing tech, flocking instead to secure software, supply chain risk mitigation, and any startup with “quantum-resistant” in its pitch deck. Experts from South China Morning Post warn about retaliatory anti-dumping probes and tech substitution, but as long as the cyber onslaughts keep hitting, lawmakers on both sides are unlikely to blink.

Looking forward, think tighter rules, faster retaliation, and a boom for quantum and AI security. Every day, we’re inching closer to a world where the wires between Silicon Valley and Zhongguancun might as well run through a firewall.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Greetings listeners, it’s Ting, your go-to byte-sized brain on Beijing Bytes, bringing you the sharpest insights and a dash of fun from the US-China tech war frontlines. Let’s jump straight into the digital trenches of the past two weeks, because trust me, the circuits have been sizzling.

First, cybersecurity—always the bread and butter in this high-stakes rivalry. Fresh off the wire, the WarLock ransomware group is turning up the heat, with attacks escalating throughout September and a particular fondness for Microsoft SharePoint exploits. But that’s just the warm-up act. Chinese state-backed hackers aren’t slowing down either. According to IBM’s X-Force and folks like Mark Kelly and Greg Lesnewich, the group TA415 ran clever spearphishing scams, targeting US organizations with economic lures and fake personas tied to the US-China Business Council. Meanwhile, Hive0154, also known as Mustang Panda, is showcasing its latest Toneshell9 backdoor and a USB worm called SnakeDisk, which only triggers in Thailand—a not-so-subtle reminder that Beijing’s cyber campaigns have precise geofencing and evolving tech. That’s not all: US officials say China’s Volt Typhoon group has gone deep into American critical infrastructure. So deep, in fact, that operators worry they’re one click away, as seen in the water sector. Attackers aren’t just probing; they’re embedding for future leverage, with US officials sounding more like firewall engineers than diplomats.

Shifting gears, let’s talk tech restrictions. The big headline: during Madrid trade talks, the US and China sidestepped tariffs to bicker over TikTok’s fate and semiconductor exports. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Rep Jamieson Greer put the spotlight on high-tech decoupling—think export controls on advanced chips and rare earths, plus a temporary tariff reprieve on smartphones and laptops, which has Chinese exporters breathing just a bit easier for now. According to Asia Times and South China Morning Post, China just flexed its $47.5 billion semiconductor fund, while announcing further rare earth export controls that keep Washington’s defense sector sweating. Huawei isn’t missing a beat, either: Eric Xu revealed an aggressive roadmap to roll out the Ascend 950, 960, and 970 chips in rapid succession, each expected to double computing power, and ditch reliance on Nvidia.

Industry has felt these tremors—investors, rejoice or panic! ETFs like SOXL and CQQQ have surged as talk of a trade thaw, combined with AI and legacy chip demand, stirs optimism. Chinese AI startups, flush with $1.15 billion in fresh capital, are scaling up thanks to Beijing’s $125 billion AI investment push. Meanwhile, Alibaba’s Qwen3-Next-80B-A3B model, outpacing western rivals for a tenth of the training cost, hints that the AI contest is wide open.

Strategically, both sides are recalibrating. The US is bolstering domestic chip and rare earth supply chains, while China’s new foreign investment rules and looser data transfer controls make its markets more appealing—if you can stomach the regulatory maze and geopolitical shockwaves. Analysts like Angela Huyue Zhang note that Chinese regulators are treading more carefully, fostering a more stable environment for business, but the long-term is anybody’s guess.

Forecast? Expect sharper cyberattacks, more granular tech restrictions, and plenty of regulatory hopscotch. Both powers aim for tech self-sufficiency, but they’re also testing the tightrope of strategic engagement—one slip and it’s an economic nosedive.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Listeners, fire up your VPNs—it's Ting at Beijing Bytes, here to decode the latest volleys in the digital trench war between the U.S. and China. We've seen more action these past two weeks than in an entire season of Mr. Robot, so let’s cut the preamble and jump right into the meat.

The story topping my virtual feeds: the high-stakes Trump-Xi phone call, as both leaders attempt a TikTok truce. Trump is working a deal that lets U.S. firms buy control of TikTok’s American operations, keeping that best-in-class algorithm licensed under strict terms. That’s supposed to ease U.S. national security hawks but steer clear of a total ban and, of course, score big political points for both sides. Xi, on the other hand, wants to remind D.C. that China still has the supply chain cards and could snap on tariffs, rare earth exports, or tech sanctions if pushed. Meanwhile, critics like Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi point out—algorithms and data aren’t going anywhere unless they’re “truly in American hands.” The TikTok saga is just a lens into a ground-shifting regulatory landscape: national security meets economic interdependence, with a dash of digital showmanship for the global audience.

But it’s not just TikTok. The Pentagon’s been cleaning house after that ProPublica exposé on Microsoft letting China-based engineers handle sensitive DoD cloud systems. Now, only personnel from non-adversarial countries can work on defense cloud tech. Every click, every line change, every digital “oops”—logged, tracked, attributed. Microsoft scrambled to comply, while Congress, especially Republicans, labeled the loophole “a national betrayal.” The Pentagon is running a hot investigation. In other words, the U.S. is raising a fortress around its cyber crown jewels and the moat just got deeper.

Let’s talk cyber ops: Just days ago, Chinese actors impersonated Rep. John Moolenaar, the House committee chair, launching a spear-phishing blitz targeting officials and major industries. This wasn’t some script kiddie hack—these emails looked legit, asking for input on draft sanctions bills and luring folks to click, reply, or forward. Even foreign governments got hit. The FBI and Capitol Police are all over it. The lesson? In this cyber war, trust can be weaponized as easily as malware, and the psychological game can hit harder than a zero-day exploit.

On the industry front, semiconductors are the battleground of choice. The U.S. slammed tighter export controls on advanced chips and added revenue-sharing strings for any AI chips Nvidia sells to China. China retaliated hard—huge antitrust headaches for Nvidia, $47.5 billion pumped into its semiconductor champions like Huawei and SMIC, and fresh export bans on minerals like gallium and germanium, jolting global supply chains. U.S. firms like Nvidia and AMD gripe about billions in lost revenue, while American supply chain managers are now obsessed with words like “friend-shoring” and “geographic diversification.” Southeast Asia is the new production darling as costs and regulatory headaches spiral. As a bonus, mature-node Chinese AI chips and local outfits are quietly picking up the slack.

On policy, Trump’s AI Action Plan got a July reboot to keep the U.S. AI edge sharp—crowding dollars into research, military colleges, and government R&D. As he dramatically put it, this “biggest tech challenge since the space race” is now a contest for civilization’s future. Meanwhile, China’s Made in China 2025 is at 50% chip self-sufficiency, well short of their 70% goal, but still making Western regulators nervous as progress in 7nm chips and subsidized AI platforms continues.

Looking forward, experts from Forbes and Bloomberg see more regulatory fragmentation and decoupling ahead. Investors are told to hedge risk, diversify, and ride the supply chain segmentation—AI, quantum, and niche chips are the new frontier. The tech cold war? It’s here, and it won’t be over by next quarter.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Hey listeners, this is Ting, bringing you another fiery edition of Beijing Bytes, where I cut through the digital fog of the US-China tech war with equal parts brain and banter. Buckle up—these past two weeks were packed with enough cyber drama and policy chess to fill a data center.

First, let’s talk hacking. If you thought Beijing’s cyber actors were lying low, think again. The notorious threat group TA415—also known as APT41, Brass Typhoon, or “those guys who never sleep”—has been running a fresh phishing blitz, impersonating none other than John Moolenaar, Chair of the US House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition with the CCP, and even spoofing emails from the US-China Business Council. According to Proofpoint, these emails, sent in July and August, targeted US government offices, think tanks, and academics, all focused on America’s China policy and trade. The lures? Closed-door briefings, draft legislation, collaboration offers—classic social engineering. The payload? Not just malware, but a slick twist: using Visual Studio Code remote tunnels for persistent access, instead of the usual malware suspects. Proofpoint researchers noted that TA415’s infrastructure overlaps with historical Chinese state-linked operations, and let’s just say Chengdu 404 Network Technology’s fingerprints are all over this. The timing is spicy: right as US-China trade talks intensify, Beijing’s cyber warriors are clearly playing for intel dominance, not just control.

Meanwhile, on the hardware front, the chip war goes nuclear. The US Commerce Department, never shy to flex, just updated its Entity List to slap export controls on a bunch of Chinese tech firms, including the National Time Service Center under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Fudan Microelectronics. The goal? Disrupt China’s military-civil fusion strategy, which aims to weave civilian tech prowess into PLA modernization. The Commerce Department’s reasoning: these firms are too cozy with the PLA, dabbling in everything from quantum computing to AI chips for the Chinese military. And let’s not forget the biotech angle—several Beijing and Shanghai firms are now under scrutiny for allegedly aiding PLA biodefense research. The message from Washington is clear: no more blurry lines between China’s commercial and military tech ecosystems.

Beijing isn’t just taking punches. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation fired back by launching an antitrust investigation into Nvidia, accusing the American chip giant of anti-competitive practices. Details are scarce, but the subtext isn’t: this is Beijing’s regulatory counterpunch to US export controls, and a not-so-subtle nudge for Chinese firms to buy local. The chip industry, already reeling from US restrictions on advanced semiconductor exports, is feeling the squeeze—both sides are escalating, and the global tech supply chain is caught in the crossfire.

Then there’s TikTok. Remember when this app was the hottest potato in US-China relations? Well, after multiple delays, the US and China have struck a “framework” deal to keep TikTok alive in America. According to The Economic Times and multiple US outlets, ByteDance will cede control of TikTok’s US operations to a consortium led by Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, with Oracle managing user data on American soil. Chinese shareholders keep a minority stake, but the board will be mostly American. Wang Jingtao, deputy director of China’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, confirms both sides have agreed on IP and algorithm access—no small feat, given China’s export controls on recommendation algorithms. The deal is a messy compromise, but for now, it kicks the can down the road, with the ban deadline pushed to December 16.

So, what does all this mean? The tech cold war is hotter than ever. The US is betting on export controls and entity listings to slow China’s military-tech rise, while Beijing answers with regulatory muscle and cyber-espionage edge. The semiconductor industry is a casualty, but also a battleground—every new restriction or investigation reshuffles the deck for chipmakers, investors, and innovators. Cybersecurity is now the invisible frontline, with both sides probing for weakness in each other’s digital infrastructure.

Looking ahead, expect more tit-for-tat, more gray-zone cyber ops, and more eleventh-hour deals like TikTok’s. The strategic calculus is simple: both Washington and Beijing want to dominate the technologies that will define the 21st century. For industry players, the message is to brace for volatility, diversify supply chains, and invest in resilience. For the rest of us? Strap in—this rivalry will shape everything from your smartphone to your national security.

Thanks for tuning in to Beijing Bytes. If you want more sharp takes on the tech tug-of-war, hit subscribe—and let me know what you want to hear next. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Hey listeners, I'm Ting, and welcome to Beijing Bytes. Let me tell you, the past two weeks have been absolutely wild in the US-China tech war space, and honestly, I'm questioning whether anyone's actually winning this chess match anymore.

Just two days ago on September 13th, Beijing dropped what I'm calling the "revenge investigation special." China's Ministry of Commerce launched not one, but two probes targeting American semiconductor companies. They're going after US analog chips from heavyweights like Texas Instruments and ON Semiconductor, claiming these companies are dumping products while US import volumes surged over 30 percent between 2022 and 2024. The timing? Chef's kiss perfect, because these announcements came right before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sits down with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Madrid this week.

But here's where it gets spicy, listeners. While everyone's focused on chips, we had the data breach of the century on September 11th. Over 600 gigabytes of China's Great Firewall documents got leaked online, exposing the inner workings of the world's most sophisticated censorship machine. We're talking source code, work logs, and evidence that Geedge Networks, led by Fang Binxing, the actual Father of the Great Firewall, has been exporting surveillance tech way beyond China's borders.

Then there's the Salt Typhoon saga that's gotten seriously messy. What started as targeted espionage in mid-2023 has exploded into a massive operation affecting millions of Australians and hitting dozens of countries. The Australian Signals Directorate just attributed this monster campaign to Beijing's Ministry of State Security and the People's Liberation Army.

Meanwhile, the export control game is backfiring spectacularly. Remember DeepSeek? That Chinese AI startup just wiped 600 billion dollars off Nvidia's market cap in January by proving you can build world-class AI models with way fewer, less advanced chips. Industry experts are now saying these restrictions might actually be accelerating Chinese innovation rather than slowing it down.

The semiconductor bundling technique Chinese firms are using is fascinating. They're linking hundreds of export-compliant chips together to match the power of restricted advanced GPUs. Sure, it's more expensive and energy-intensive, but as one expert noted, Chinese firms are happy to pay that price.

Looking ahead, these Madrid talks aren't going to solve much. Both sides are doubling down, and the semiconductor industry is bracing for prolonged uncertainty. The real question isn't who's winning anymore, but whether this tech cold war is pushing both nations toward more dangerous territory.

Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to subscribe for more Beijing Bytes updates. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

For more http://www.quietplease.ai


Get the best deals https://amzn.to/3ODvOta

This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI