China's commerce ministry announced export controls on drones to the United States and blacklisted six US entities on August 5, calling the measures a restrained response to US sanctions imposed over forced labor and national security concerns; Beijing warned that further countermeasures remain available as Washington had recently imposed fresh tariffs on China and 59 other countries
US Bureau of Industry and Security restrictions, in force since 2022, limit sales of advanced semiconductors and chipmaking equipment to China, determining who can build AI at scale.
full dossier ›Chinese AI startup Moonshot AI released Kimi K3, an open-weight model priced at roughly half the cost per task of competing frontier models, triggering a US$3.3 trillion sell-off in global semiconductor stocks and prompting Moonshot to accelerate a Hong Kong IPO at a US$30 billion valuation
Beijing's MOFCOM Notice 2026 No. 28 adds Japan's National Institute for Defense Studies, Mitsubishi Precision, and 18 others to an outright export ban, while 20 more, including Terra Drone and Mitsui E&S, go to a mandatory risk-assessment watchlist, in direct retaliation for PM Takaichi's Taiwan military comments
Five interlocking regimes that cut governments, entities, and individuals off from finance, trade, and technology; the primary pressure instruments short of military force.