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Australia Says US’ Tech Edge Against PRC ‘Totally Gone’ in Some Areas, Urges AUKUS to Pool Resources

© AP Photo / Vincent YuA Kunpeng 920 chip is displayed during an unveiling ceremony in Shenzhen, China, Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. Chinese telecom giant Huawei unveiled a processor chip for data centers and cloud computing as it expands into an emerging global market despite Western warnings the company might be a security risk.
A Kunpeng 920 chip is displayed during an unveiling ceremony in Shenzhen, China, Monday, Jan. 7, 2019. Chinese telecom giant Huawei unveiled a processor chip for data centers and cloud computing as it expands into an emerging global market despite Western warnings the company might be a security risk.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 04.04.2023
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China surpassed the US’s GDP in purchasing power parity terms in 2013, and has a considerable lead on its competitor in patent filings, research and development and key science metrics. Washington and its allies have responded with an expanded trade and technology war against Beijing, and efforts to hem the Asian nation in militarily.
America’s technology lead vis-à-vis China is rapidly “eroding” and in some places has disappeared completely, and the US and its AUKUS allies must pool their resources to compensate, Andrew Shearer, the director-general of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence, has recommended.
“We are seeing our longstanding technological edge start to erode, and in some cases that edge is totally gone,” Shearer said, speaking at the Sydney Dialogue, an Australia-based technology summit.
The chief spook also warned that the military balance of power in the Indo-Pacific was starting to “shift away from the United States and its allies,” thus “undermining deterrence.”
Also speaking at the forum, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned that China is “a new kind of competitor” for the West.
“They are a partner in the sense that we can rely on them for some things, but they are a competitor in others...China is not like the Soviet Union. Now we have an autarkic, if you will, autocratic competitor that is run by technocrats that is very capable of inventing a new future. And they can invent a new communications future. That’s called Huawei and 5G, which is also known as a signals intelligence nightmare,” Schmidt said.
The businessman, who now chairs the US Special Competitive Studies Project, an Arlington, Virginia-based non-profit, urged the US and its Australian and British allies to siphon off and hold on to bright, talented Chinese, Russian and Indian scientists, instead of training people “to the teeth in quantum [tech] and then [kicking] them out and they go to China and they create a quantum program which is going to be used to decrypt and basically analyze all of our data when quantum finally works. It’s insane!”
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Austrian quantum computing expert Michelle Simmons urged AUKUS countries to form a “joint mission” on quantum computing. “It’s critical for the nations to work together to make sure we pool our resources, to make sure that we are at the forefront,’ Simmons said.
The AUKUS alliance –a tripartite security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, was formed in September 2021, and is centered around cooperation in the transfer of nuclear technology to Canberra for nuclear-powered submarines, as well as collaboration on hypersonic weaponry, cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and expanded information and intelligence sharing. The pact, which ended up stiffing France out of a $66 billion submarine contract with Australia, also provides for a new naval base in western Australia from which US warships can operate.
China, Russia, and North Korea have criticized AUKUS, saying it threatens to kick off a new regional arms race.
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning blasted Washington for ramping up its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region, accusing the country of “pursuing its own interests and adhering to a zero-sum game mindset.” The result of US policy would “inevitably be increased tension and a threat to regional peace and stability,” Mao said. The spokeswoman urged regional nations to “think deeply” about what really constitutes mutually beneficial cooperation and to pursue their true interests, not those of Washington.
President Joe Biden speaks after meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Naval Base Point Loma, Monday, March 13, 2023, in San Diego. - Sputnik International, 1920, 13.03.2023
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The US effort to hem China in into its home waters militarily comes amid growing tensions with Beijing over Taiwan, as well as broader issues related to the US’s waning economic and technological prowess.
The People’s Republic outpaced the US in purchasing power parity gross domestic product in 2013, and is on course to surpass the US in dollar terms over the coming decade. China’s economic growth, combined with its growing technological competencies, has led successive US administrations to launch trade and tech wars against the Asian nation, to restrict the sale of some high tech products and to ban the purchase of Chinese communications infrastructure by Chinese tech giants like Huawei and ZTE.
These restrictions have failed to upset China’s growing competitive advantage. According to a recent report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, China is leading the US in 37 of 44 critical tech research areas, in fields including AI, robotics, quantum technology, defense and space-related engineering and biotech.
© Photo : Australian Strategic Policy InstituteExcerpt from Australian Strategic Policy Institute report on China's growing lead in the critical technology race against the US.
Excerpt from Australian Strategic Policy Institute report on China's growing lead in the critical technology race against the US. - Sputnik International, 1920, 04.04.2023
Excerpt from Australian Strategic Policy Institute report on China's growing lead in the critical technology race against the US.
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