They are among the largest machines in the world: Some are as long as a football field, with steel cylindrical bodies equipped with rotating cutterheads capable of cutting through rock to create pathways for roads and railways. This type of machine is called a shield machine and is manufactured by only a few companies in the world, mostly in factories in China.
India uses them to dig tunnels, including in the Himalayas, to improve its ability to project troops and defend its disputed border with China. But from next month, Beijing may have the power to decide whether India can buy the equipment.
The machinery is part of a broader campaign by China to tighten controls on the export of products and technology overseas from Chinese factories and laboratories. Over the past month, Beijing has taken steps to impose export controls on dozens of technologies, including drones, artificial intelligence models and agents, and certain processes used to develop advanced medicines and make solar panels.
The series of moves could make it harder for companies in the United States and elsewhere to build solar equipment factories that compete with Chinese manufacturers. At the same time, it could soon make it harder for people outside China to get access to China’s latest and most powerful artificial intelligence models.
The proposed restrictions show Beijing is stepping up efforts to pursue a strategy of making Chinese factories indispensable to the world. At the same time, many governments are concerned about their dependence on China and are working hard to reduce this dependence.
In the United States, concerns about China's control of rare earths have prompted the government to revive its own rare earth mining and processing industry. In Europe, Japan and elsewhere, governments are working to restore capacity to produce antibiotics and active pharmaceutical ingredients, many of which now rely on Chinese supplies. In India, the transport minister has urged companies to manufacture TBMs domestically.
For Chinese leader Xi Jinping, these export controls mean that a plan he proposed years ago is now being implemented. During the COVID-19 epidemic, China's dependence on foreign countries for advanced medical equipment such as ventilators and life support systems, as well as raw materials and special parts, was fully exposed. It was at that time that Xi Jinping proposed this plan.
He announced that China will develop "ace" technologies in industries such as high-speed trains, renewable energy and telecommunications. This would make China not only more self-sufficient but also deter other countries from trying to cut ties with China.
Prepare for the "Great Struggle" with the West
Xi Jinping paints China as locked in a protracted struggle with the West, which he sees as trying to contain China's rise.
Kirsten Asdal, co-founder of Asdal Advisory, a consulting firm specializing in Chinese politics, said Beijing needs leverage to ensure it can still get what it needs from other countries, namely overseas markets and advanced technologies such as jet engines and high-end chips.
She said: "Xi Jinping and the Communist Party believe that they are naturally in a position of confrontation with the West" and have been "waiting for opportunities to start confrontation. As long as the opportunity and strength allow, they will take action sooner or later."
At home, the party has portrayed China's drive to boost its industrial and technological capabilities as a battle for survival, echoing its struggles during the revolutionary years.
Recently, the Chinese Communist Party has repeatedly mentioned the Long March. The Long March was a long and arduous strategic retreat of the Red Army, covering nearly 10,000 kilometers. It consolidated Mao Zedong's leadership and became the iconic narrative of the CCP's victory over desperate situations. Drawing on this history, the CCP may be trying to convey this message to ordinary Chinese people: Faced with slowing economic growth, a protracted real estate crisis, and increasing external hostility, China can tide over the difficulties as long as it persists under the leadership of the party.
Recently, in a front-page editorial commemorating the 90th anniversary of the victory of the Long March, the People's Daily called on the country to "target key core technologies, especially the 'stuck neck' problem" and to "stand up as the backbone of China's self-reliance in science and technology."
The editorial also clearly points to the United States, praising China for withstanding the test of tariffs and trade wars, and urging readers to be prepared for a "great struggle." The article also compared the efforts to seize key constraints in the technical field with the Red Army's approach to seizing the "strategic initiative" on the battlefield and ultimately defeating the Kuomintang army.
China says that the recent series of intensive export control measures and proposed regulations are necessary to protect the interests of Chinese companies. Take solar equipment manufacturing, for example. It took China decades and billions of dollars to establish its dominance in this field. China believes that it must restrict the export of core equipment to prevent competitors from trying to copy China's supply chain at home.
China has also said it needs to implement more controls to prevent threats to national security.
