After delivery stop

China accuses USA of escalating chip dispute

China has reacted sharply to the US order to Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC to stop supplying advanced chips to some Chinese customers. "The US is playing the Taiwan card to increase tensions in the Taiwan Strait," a spokeswoman for China's Taiwan office said on Wednesday. The decision undermines the interests of Taiwanese companies, she said.

The remarks are China's first official reaction to the US order reported by Reuters news agency on Sunday. The world's largest contract manufacturer of chips then stopped deliveries on Monday, said a person familiar with the matter. The chips in question are often used in artificial intelligence applications.

The move comes amid growing concerns in the US about inadequate export controls on China. The dispute over chip shipments is part of the ongoing technology conflict between Washington and Beijing, in which the US is increasingly trying to restrict China's access to advanced semiconductors.

TSMC informed the US Department of Commerce a few weeks ago that one of its chips had been found in an AI processor from Huawei. As China's leading technology company, Huawei is at the center of the US measures.