Envoy says US tech restrictions against China may ‘plunge the world into the abyss’

As Fu Cong addressed UN Security Council, Biden administration reportedly finalising rules to ban particular US investments in AI in China

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China’s permanent representative to the UN Fu Cong alluded to US policy when he criticised countries with a “small yard and high fence” policy regarding tech and industry. Photo: Reuters

Published: 2:33pm, 22 Oct 2024Updated: 2:46pm, 23 Oct 2024

A Chinese diplomat took a veiled swipe at the US strategy of hi-tech restrictions, warning a United Nations meeting it could lead the world into an “abyss of confrontation”.

Fu Cong, Beijing’s permanent representative at the UN, accused “individual countries” of attempting to “consolidate their own technology monopoly and contain the development of other countries” by building a so-called “small yard, high fence” on the pretext of national security – an apparent reference to the United States.

Fu was speaking at a UN Security Council briefing on the anticipated impact of scientific developments on international peace and security.

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“The ‘small yard and high fence’ has become a ‘large yard with an iron curtain’, seriously destabilising industrial and supply chains, increasing development gaps and hindering technological progress,” Fu said.

“We are particularly worried that these man-made divisions, compared to the risks posed by technology itself, will be more detrimental to international peace and security, and may ultimately plunge the world into the abyss of confrontation.”

His comment comes just two weeks before the US presidential election. It is widely expected that regardless of whether the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris or her Republican rival Donald Trump wins, the fierce technology war between the world’s two largest economies is likely to continue.

In a speech in April 2023, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan described the small yard and high fence approach as “protecting our foundational technologies” and said the White House had carefully implemented “tailored restrictions” on the most advanced semiconductor technology exports to China.

Beijing pushed back against the practice, labelling it containment. But Washington argued that it was only focused on a narrow slice of technology and a small number of countries that were intent on challenging the US militarily.