In addition to the spectacle of Wednesday’s military parade in Tiananmen Square, with its rows of never-before-seen weapons and equipment, was a less visible but highly consequential shift.
At its heart lies China’s growing dominance in gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor technology, giving it a strategic advantage that is reshaping the global arms race, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Physics.
“Behind this technological advancement lies a ‘hidden thread’ of semiconductor development: China’s GaN-based semiconductor technology has reached maturity,” it said in the report, which was also released on Wednesday.
Unlike Washington’s overt restrictions aimed at curbing China’s access to advanced chips, Beijing’s countermove has effectively become a silent sanction on the US semiconductor industry – particularly its defence capabilities.
Framed as measures to ensure national security and fair trade, China’s export controls on critical raw materials like gallium and germanium also exploit its near-monopoly on the production of essential materials for next-generation military electronics.
This strategic leverage has enabled China to deploy cutting-edge phased array radar systems across its armed forces at a pace and scale unmatched by the United States, according to the report.
