The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Leaders’ Summit, held in Samarkand, coincided with a time when Russian and Chinese companies sought to avoid US bans on critical microchip imports, while the US was concerned about the Chinese steel used in its F-35 warplanes. . According to the statements of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the organization that Turkey aims for full membership and the summit in Samarkand are also considered by Western experts as a turning point in globalization.
One such name is Peter Apps, founder and director of the think tank Project for Study of the 21st Century, who writes for Reuters on international relations, globalization, conflicts and other global issues. In his article he wrote for Reuters, Apps states that “Microchips, steel and (Samarkand) summit point to a new era of globalization” as the headline and evaluates that the summit, for which Iran applied for full membership, is actually an important turning point for globalization.
Emphasizing the importance of the face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Uzbekistan, the article said, “After the pandemic, the leaders of the two countries met face to face for the first time, while Russian and Chinese companies avoid the US ban on important microchip imports. He is looking for a solution in other parts of the world, while the USA is worried about the Chinese steel used in F-35 warplanes,” he said.
In a world where supply chains have not been questioned much until recently, globalization has been on the decline like never before with conflicts like the Ukraine War and Taiwan since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, according to Apps. This brings new challenges. The results of Moscow and Beijing’s showdowns with Washington are still growing and have spread to many sectors. In the continuation of its article, Apps touches on the opposite trends of globalization on the East-West axis and briefly states the following:
“There are interdependencies in the microchip”
“Europe is trying to detach itself from Russian gas. Ukraine and its Western allies are blocking the sale of Western or Taiwan-made chips to Russia that it needs for long-range missiles, while Chinese and US companies are similarly looking for ways to survive without access to the product found in one another.”
“A report by the British defense and security organization Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) shows that Russia’s military equipment continues to have a high dependence on Western and Taiwanese microchips. The export of these microchips to Russia is currently restricted. In its technological breakthroughs in recent years, China still has a heavy reliance on microchips and other high-tech parts from the US and Taiwan, and both countries have restricted supplies to Chinese companies, and the restrictions are expected to increase further. Earlier this month, US chip maker Nvidia announced that US officials had ordered them to stop exporting two of the best chips used in artificial intelligence to China on the grounds that they could be used for military purposes.”
“The Pentagon realized it was dependent on Chinese metals in the F-35”
“The Pentagon’s realization that every 835 F-35 it has ever commissioned uses a banned Chinese alloy shows that in such a deeply interconnected global economy, dividing supply chains does not mean problems can be avoided. It is stated that the US officials are trying to make an exception for the Chinese alloy for the F-35s, and these officials state that the material in question – a part of the magnet – will not violate the safety of the aircraft. But Washington has also been working on diversifying its sources in both its technological components and raw materials in recent years.”
US to support Mexico’s chip and electric vehicle industry
Highlighting the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to Mexico, Peter Apps said that the two ministers “committed to helping Mexico’s own chip industry and electric vehicle industry grow in order to reduce the US reliance on products from China and Taiwan. ” transmits. Dependence on China and Taiwan in the chip automotiveDespite the strong demand in many sectors, including electronics and white goods, it caused a great supply-side bottleneck.
The ‘neutral’ line between India, Turkey and Mexico’s East-West
“India, which participated in the summit, is among the important members of a growing group that sees itself as a neutral and central position between the Russia-China axis and the West. The presence of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the summit is an important reminder of the limited success of Western efforts to isolate Russia from the rest of the world. Indian companies are Russian despite the war energy continues to buy from companies and invest in these companies. Positioning itself as the interlocutor between Delhi and Beijing after the conflict on the Himalayan border in 2020, the Kremlin has also benefited here. Alongside India’s Modi and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador was one of the leaders at the summit, taking a ‘neutral’ stance between East and West.”