Former South Korean diplomat: Chip 4 cannot contain China

A former senior diplomat from the Republic of Korea has said a chip alliance led by the United States cannot contain China's chip development.

"I do not know what their ultimate intention is, but China is not a country that can be contained," said Ra Jong-yil in an exclusive interview with China Daily. Ra once served as the ROK's ambassador to Japan and the United Kingdom, a director of its National Intelligence Service, and a senior national security advisor to the Blue House, the official residence of the country's president.

To further squeeze space for China's semiconductor industry, the Joe Biden administration is pushing to form a "Chip 4" alliance, with the US, Japan, the ROK, and China's Taiwan as its four intended members.

Ra said that the ROK will see whether joining the club would be advantageous to it and that it would be against joining it if such an organization aims at antagonizing certain countries.

He added that China was the biggest export market for the ROK, whose semiconductor industry had prospered mainly through export to China. "We cannot think of excluding China from any kind of international organization to promote trade and economic prosperity," Ra said.