A guide to the semiconductor contest at the heart of the US-China technology rivalry
Semiconductors are the foundation of everything from smartphones to missiles to AI data centres, and China still depends on foreign technology to make the most advanced ones. Since October 2022, Washington has steadily tightened export controls on cutting-edge chips and the tools used to make them, aiming to keep Chinese industry at least a generation behind.
Beijing has responded with huge state investment and a national drive for self-reliance, led by champions such as Huawei and SMIC. This guide collects China Factor’s coverage of the chip war, from the first Huawei sanctions to the race to build AI chips at home, and the role of Taiwan’s TSMC in a fragile global supply chain.
In this guide
1 Export controls and the chip war
Successive US administrations have used export rules as their main weapon, restricting what American companies and their allies can sell to Chinese buyers. The rules keep shifting, and so do the deals struck around them.
- Nvidia deal signals Trump’s shifting priorities
- Trump’s ‘wrecking ball’ sparks ‘seismic’ chain reaction
- Chip ‘war’ threatens to change the global landscape
- Chips are down in confronting China’s tech challenge
- China takes a hit in the chip war with the US
- High-tech rivalry and the US-China chip conflict
- China ups the ante in chips conflict with the US
- US chips away at China’s high-tech military complex
- Can the US really gain from China’s chip war pain?
- Beijing left with a chip on its shoulder in Washington row
2 Huawei, SMIC and the sanctions squeeze
Huawei became the first big casualty of the chip war when US sanctions cut it off from advanced chips, while the chipmaker SMIC was placed on Washington’s blacklist. Both have since become symbols of China’s determination to build around the restrictions.
- Huawei fails to chip away at Nvidia’s dominance
- Pig-headed Huawei heads for hog heaven amid US-China row
- Huawei strangled by United States sanctions as tech ban bites
- ‘Wolf culture’ and ‘Rommel’ loom large at Huawei
- US pulls the plug on China’s leading chipmaker SMIC
- Huawei’s 5G force triggers a global pushback against China
- Huawei ban and China backlash lifts profits for Samsung Electronics
- China accuses US of strangling smartphone group Huawei
- China-US tech war bytes as Huawei loses its chips in 5G rollout
3 AI chips and the push for self-reliance
The chips that train and run AI models are now the most contested of all. China is pouring money into domestic alternatives to Nvidia, and its AI labs are learning to do more with less.
- Zhipu’s GLM-5.3-Flash runs on ~100,000 Chinese chips
- China’s ‘Manhattan Project’ sparks AI chip fears
- Chips are down in the war with China for AI supremacy
- DeepSeek will not chip away at Silicon Valley’s sway
- Chips fueled by AI will reshape global security
- China’s crypto ban chips into semiconductor war
4 Taiwan, TSMC and the supply chain
Taiwan’s TSMC makes most of the world’s most advanced chips, which puts the island at the centre of both the technology contest and the military one. The US, Europe and Asian allies are scrambling to spread the risk.
- Taiwan invasion would trigger global chip chaos
- Why the ‘chip’ of state might have already sailed
- Fab 4 aims to take super chips off China’s menu
- European Union places its chips on a Taiwan deal with TSMC
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This guide is updated as China Factor publishes new coverage. Last revision: November 2026.