Through a review of business statements, regulatory filings, tenders, and academic articles written by researchers and institutes affiliated with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), Reuters discovered that Brite Semiconductor provides chip design services to at least six Chinese military suppliers.
Due to suspected links to Beijing's military, SMIC, the company's primary supplier and second-largest shareholder, was added to the so-called U.S. entity list, so preventing it from obtaining certain products from U.S. suppliers.
Despite these connections, records revealed that Brite has access to confidential U.S. technology from two software firms in California, Synopsys and Cadence Design, and has investment from a Christian university and a U.S. venture capital firm sponsored by Wells Fargo. Reuters has not discovered any proof that Brite's business dealings with American companies are illegal.
With support from both parties, the Biden administration has worked hard to stifle the flow of capital and technology to Beijing's chip industry. In October of last year, it unveiled regulations aimed at preventing some U.S. exports of chips and tools used in chip production to China, and in August, it announced a ban on certain new U.S. investments in the sector. Dozens of Chinese businesses, many of which have connections to China's military, have also been added to the entity list.
Requests for comment from Brite were not answered. Both the White House and the Commerce Department declined to comment. Although it refrained from commenting on Brite, the Chinese Embassy in Washington charged that the US was engaging in "blatant economic coercion and bullying in the field of technology."
Brite's access shows the difficulties Washington faces in trying to prevent American funds and equipment from being used to further China's military ambitions, even though there isn't a clear violation of any American regulations. It also suggests that the United States won't be successful unless it targets a lot more businesses that have escaped its notice.
The foreign relations committee member and prominent China hawk Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican, called Reuters' findings about Brite "concerning."
"Businesses involved in China's military procurement network ought to
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