How Huawei Defeated U.S. Semiconductor Sanctions | The U.S. Shouldn’t Worry About the India-Canada Rift | Why Xi Jinping Doesn’t Trust His Own Military, and more

How Huawei Defeated U.S. Semiconductor Sanctions  (Megha Shrivastava, National Interest)
China’s Huawei, a technology giant that has been facing Western-led sanctions for years, has unveiled its Huawei Mate 60 Promade, a breakthrough development in the ongoing chip war between the United States and China, According to the analysis of TechInsights, the smartphone is powered with a 5G chip Kirin 9000S processor based on the 7nm (N+2) technology. The chip is designed by Huawei’s division HiSilicon and is developed with Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation’s (SMIC) N+2 technology. 
Both Huawei and SMIC are Entity List companies. The U.S. Bureau of Industry Standards (BIS) in October 2022 updated the U.S. Entity list that names companies that are scrutinized. For American companies to do business with the listed companies requires a prior license by U.S. government authorities. Experts anticipated a sharp cut in the flow of technology and equipment from the United States to China that will effectively limit China’s growth in the chip industry and throw Chinese chip capability decades behind the United States’ advanced chip capabilities. However, Huawei’s resurgence with a 7nm chip capability raises doubts about the efficacy of Western sanctions among those who discounted China’s capability in microchip manufacturing and now wonder how China has been able to mass produce 7nm leading-edge semiconductor technology despite embargos.

Dawn Raids Across Germany as Neo-Nazi Group Banned for ‘Disgusting’ Targeting of Children  (Maroosha Muzaffar, Independent)
Germany banned yet another neo-Nazi group and conducted raids at the homes of dozens of its members, according to reports. The authorities raided the houses of at least 39 members in the early hours on Wednesday after the country’s interior minister Nancy Faeser banned the group “Artgemeinschaft” accused of spreading Nazi ideology. Across 12 states, at least 26 homes belonging to the members of the group were searched. The authorities said that the group has about 150 members nationwide, including children and adolescents. “This is another hard blow against right-wing extremism and against the intellectual arsonists who continue to spread Nazi ideologies to this day,” Ms Faeser said. “This right-wing extremist group has tried to raise new enemies of the constitution with its disgusting indoctrination of children and young people.” This is the second neo-Nazi group to be banned in about a week. Ms Faeser banned “Hammerskins Deutschland” which had roots in the United States about a week ago.

Canada-India Row Puts Spotlight on Sikh Activism in UK  (Aleem Maqbool, BBC)
Avtar Singh Khanda, 35, was well known for his support of the creation of a breakaway Sikh homeland, Khalistan. He died from a sudden illness in Birmingham in June, and some of those close to him insinuate there was foul play involved. West Midlands Police say they thoroughly reviewed the case and there were no suspicious circumstances and that there is no need to re-investigate. But British Sikhs have long talked about feeling under undue pressure, as the Indian government has openly demanded that the UK authorities do more to stamp out “extremism” within the community. Gurpreet Johal is a lawyer and Labour councillor from Dumbarton. He says he entered politics because of what happened to his family. Six years ago, Gurpreet’s brother Jagtar - a well known pro-Khalistan and Sikh rights activist - went to India to get married. Mr Johal’s family says that in the town of Rami Mandi in Punjab, he was forced into an unmarked car. He has been in prison ever since accused of extremist activities.

The U.S. Shouldn’t Worry About the India-Canada Rift  (Michael Kugelman, Foreign Policy)
In most circumstances, an allegation such as the one leveled y Canada against India, could imperil relations between the United States and the foreign government in question. But in this case, the foreign government is India, a close strategic partner of the United States. If Washington concludes that Ottawa’s allegations are true, it likely won’t damage U.S.-India relations—despite the fact that the United States itself reportedly provided intelligence to Canada that helped Ottawa conclude New Delhi may have been involved.
Washington has a strong interest in maintaining the partnership with New Delhi, even if the India-Canada crisis sparks some new tensions. The U.S. foreign-policy ecosystem is fully behind partnership with India, a sentiment that reaches all the way to the top. U.S. President Joe Biden has deemed the relationship one of the “most consequential” of the 21st century. In recent years, the two countries have expanded cooperation in a range of spheres, including science and technology, clean energy, higher education, and trade.
Shared concern about China is the biggest motivating factor for the U.S. commitment to working with India. As long as competition with China remains a major focus of U.S. foreign policy, the United States will see India as an essential counterweight. After all, India now has the world’s largest population, one of the largest armies, and one of the most rapidly growing economies. New Delhi also has its own long-standing competition with Beijing.
The U.S.-India relationship has withstood shocks and challenges in the past decade: a diplomatic spat over the U.S detention of an Indian consular official, a trade war, and India’s refusal to take a stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Although none of these crises was as serious as what Canada accuses the Indian government of orchestrating, U.S.-India ties seem stronger than ever—and they have momentum. U.S. officials speak privately about how new agreements and initiatives are emerging so quickly that it’s hard to keep up with them all.
Another reason why U.S.-India relations should escape relatively unscathed is a fundamental reality: Interests, not morals, drive international relations. Some close U.S. partners, including Saudi Arabia and Israel, have carried out extrajudicial killings abroad, which have provoked tensions with Washington without dooming the relationships. Of course, not all alliances are foolproof. U.S. relations with NATO ally Turkey have declined in recent years as they have experienced strategic divergences. The two countries also lack the type of broad-based partnership that ensures goodwill.

Why Xi Jinping Doesn’t Trust His Own Military  (Joel Wuthnow, Foreign Affairs)
Over the last two months, a series of senior Chinese generals have disappeared from public view, including the defense minister and the leadership of the force responsible for China’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). These disappearances are surprising given the perception that Chinese President Xi Jinping dominates the People’s Liberation Army and his ruthless commitment to rooting out malfeasance earlier in his tenure. In fact, that such incidents have not only continued but also affected some of the most sensitive parts of the PLA showcases the limits of Xi’s power.
Xi and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) more broadly have long granted the PLA considerable autonomy to run its own affairs. Allowing the PLA a high degree of independence helps ensure its political compliance with Xi and the party, yet with no civilian checks and balances, it also creates the conditions for malfeasance and poor accountability to fester. Although the details of the recent purges are still murky, they reflect Xi’s lack of confidence in some of his most senior officers.
Such doubts about the competence of his people and the equipment they have apparently mismanaged could weigh on Xi’s calculations of the risks of initiating a conflict—making him less certain that a decision to use force would achieve the intended results. As long as Xi doubts the stories his generals are telling him about their own proficiency, his mistrust in his own military will likely serve as a deterrent to war.

American Hatred Goes Global  (Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware, Foreign Affairs)
In its decades-long fight against terrorism, the United States regularly criticized countries such as Iran, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia for exporting extremist ideologies and violence. Ironically, today the United States stands accused of doing the same. The spread of homegrown American conspiracy theories, beliefs in racial superiority, antigovernment extremism, and other manifestations of hate and intolerance has become such a problem that some of the United States’ closest allies—Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom—have designated both American groups and citizens as foreign terrorists.