“China orders halt on Micron Technology products, citing security risks to national infrastructure”

In an escalation of a row with Washington over technology and security, the Chinese government on Sunday told users of sensitive computing equipment to stop buying products from Micron Technology, the largest manufacturer of memory chips in the United States.

The China Cyberspace Administration said on its website that Micron’s products pose “serious network security risks threatening China’s information infrastructure and affecting national security.”

Her six-sentence statement did not include any details.

“Operators of critical information infrastructure in China should stop purchasing products from Micron,” the agency said.

The United States, Europe and Japan are working to limit China’s access to advanced chips and other technologies it says could be used in weapons at a time when President Xi Jinping’s government has threatened to attack Taiwan and taken a tougher line on Japan and other neighbors.

Chinese officials have also warned of unspecified consequences, but the statements indicate that they are scrambling to find ways to fight back, without hurting China’s smartphone producers and other industries and efforts to build a network of chip suppliers.

China announced a formal review of Micron under stricter Chinese information security laws on April 4, hours after Japan joined Washington in restricting China’s access to chip-making technology on security grounds.

Foreign companies expressed concern following police raids on two consulting firms, Mintz &amp and Cap Vision. The Chinese authorities refused to say the reasons for the raids, but said that foreign companies are obliged to comply with the law.

Businesses and the US government have appealed to authorities to explain the newly expanded legal restrictions on information and how to implement them.

Sunday’s announcement appears to have sought to reassure foreign companies.

“China vigorously promotes opening up to the outside world, and as long as it adheres to Chinese laws and regulations, we welcome enterprises and various platform products and services from different countries to enter the Chinese market,” the cyberspace agency said.

Xi accused Washington in March of trying to block China’s development. He called on the public to “confront these attempts”.

Even so, Beijing has been slow to respond, perhaps to avoid disrupting the Chinese industries that assemble most of the world’s smartphones, tablet computers and other consumer electronics if they import more than $300 billion worth of foreign chips each year.

Beijing is spending billions of dollars trying to speed up chip development and reduce the need for foreign technology. Chinese foundries can supply low-cost chips used in cars and home appliances, but they are still unable to support smartphones, artificial intelligence, and other advanced applications.

The conflict has prompted warnings that the world may disintegrate or be divided into separate entities with incompatible technical standards, meaning that computers, smartphones and other products from one region will not work in others. This would raise costs and may slow innovation.

US-China relations are at their lowest point in decades over differences over security, Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong and its Muslim ethnic minorities, territorial disputes and China’s billions of dollars in trade surpluses.