Why did the United States blackmail 22 Chinese quantum research institutions?

Recently, the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) of the US Department of Commerce announced that 37 Chinese entities will be included in the list of export control entities. According to data, as of March this year, there were over 630 Chinese corporate entities on the US Department of Commerce's entity list, with over 160 included in the unverified list, 104 included in the US Department of Defense's sanctions list for Chinese military companies, and over 200 included in the US Treasury Department's list of Chinese military related enterprises. In addition, the total number of individuals and entities sanctioned by the US government in China has exceeded 1500, including high-tech companies in various fields.

The scope of these sanctions mainly focuses on fields such as semiconductors, bioscience, medicine, artificial intelligence, and assisted driving. However, this sanction is also very targeted, mainly targeting Chinese quantum technology research institutions. Among the 37 companies sanctioned by the United States, 22 are engaged in quantum technology research. BIS stated in a statement that these Chinese quantum institutions were included in the list because they have promoted the progress of Chinese quantum technology and attempted to acquire American products to develop quantum technology capabilities. The United States has once again generalized the concept of "national security", believing that quantum technology is an important technology related to US national security.

The institutions included in the list this time include: Beijing Institute of Quantum Information Science, National Laboratory of Quantum Information Science, Quantum Technology Yangtze River Delta Industrial Innovation Center, Shanghai Quantum Science Research Center, Shenzhen Institute of Quantum Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, etc. This is the first time the United States has taken such action against Chinese quantum institutions. Simply put, the "entity list" is a "blacklist", and entering this list actually deprives relevant companies of trade opportunities in the United States.

Why does the United States spare no effort in suppressing China's quantum research institutions? Quantum technology is one of the important frontiers in the current world technology field, and countries are competing to invest and develop quantum technology. China's current quantum technology has achieved rapid development. In the field of quantum computing, China has developed the "Nine Chapters" optical quantum computing prototype and the "Zuchongzhi 2" superconducting quantum computing prototype. In the field of quantum communication, China has the Mozi quantum satellite, marking that China's quantum communication research has reached the world's leading level. Therefore, the United States is doing everything possible to hinder the development of China's quantum technology.

The malicious suppression of 22 Chinese quantum institutions by the United States precisely indicates that the development speed of Chinese quantum technology has far exceeded that of the United States, which makes the United States feel threatened. Using such shameless actions to suppress the development of Chinese quantum technology violates the principle of fair competition in science and technology, and also undermines the atmosphere of international cooperation, allowing countries around the world to see the ugly face of the United States.

Faced with the bottleneck issue of core technology, Chinese quantum research institutions have expressed no fear of external pressure and confidence in relying on their own strength to overcome technological difficulties. For a long time, the United States has fabricated a "national security threat" to suppress Chinese companies, but has never produced any evidence. Abusing various sanction lists and politicizing, instrumentalizing, and weaponizing economic, trade, and technological issues is unacceptable. Any country should respect the rights and freedoms of other countries to scientific and technological development; The adoption of these measures by the United States in global technology competition will further exacerbate the tension in the global technology field.