US and Japan to Create 'Modern-Day CoCom'... Strengthening Checks on China

"Warning on Strengthening Military Power through Technology Utilization"
Including Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment and AI

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The governments of the United States and Japan have begun establishing a new framework to regulate the export of advanced technologies in order to strengthen their containment of China. They plan to enhance pressure on China through cooperation with European countries as well. This move is being analyzed as a revival of the ‘Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (COCOM)’, which Western countries created in the past to contain the Soviet Union.

Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 10th, citing multiple sources, that "the goal of the US and Japan is to block exports to China, which is strengthening its military power by utilizing civilian advanced technologies." The regulation targets are expected to include semiconductor manufacturing equipment, quantum cryptography, and artificial intelligence (AI)-related technologies.

Both governments are wary of China using products imported from other countries to develop its own technologies, thereby enhancing its economic and military power. In fact, there are concerns in the US Congress and elsewhere that American semiconductor design software is being used in China’s weapons development. There are also voices pointing out that semiconductor manufacturing equipment from Japan and the Netherlands is contributing to China’s increased production capacity.

There is a multilateral export control system called the Wassenaar Arrangement, launched in 1996 to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It operates by controlling exports when there is reasonable suspicion that the exported goods will be used as weapons. However, since about 40 countries participate and each has different interests, it takes considerable time to determine the targets of export regulations. The US and Japan aim to establish a new system centered on a small number of countries possessing advanced technologies.

The United States has so far strictly regulated exports to many Chinese companies such as Huawei. However, recognizing the limitations of unilateral measures, it is now actively working to create a regulatory framework that includes other countries. The Japanese government also expects that a new framework among countries with similar technologies will be effective. In particular, it is analyzed that Japan intends to more easily predict the impact on its companies by actively participating in export control consultations.

The new framework targeting China is being called a revival of COCOM. In 1949, 15 Western countries including the United States established COCOM to control the outflow of major strategic materials to communist countries. Yomiuri Shimbun evaluated that "as China continues to grow, the new US-Japan regulatory framework will become a modern-day COCOM."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.