This is your Beijing Bytes: US-China Tech War Updates podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here—your favorite byte-hungry cyber sage, broadcasting straight from the datastreams of Beijing Bytes, October 29, 2025. Ready for a download on the latest moves in the global tech war? Strap in, encrypt your coffee, and let’s zip through the major US-China tech drama over the past two weeks.

First, Nexperia—the Dutch chipmaker, owned by China’s Wingtech—was hit with a Dutch government intervention. Picture this: on October 13, Amsterdam invoked the Goods Availability Act and seized temporary control of Nexperia, citing governance risks and strategic tech leakage concerns. Kinda sounds like a plot twist from Silicon Valley with a dash of Cold War vibes, right? Wingtech’s boss Zhang Xuezheng got pushed from the board, causing tempers to flare from The Hague to Beijing. In retaliation, China’s Ministry of Commerce threw up export restrictions, making Nexperia components harder to ship globally. Now US, European, and Asian carmakers—think BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen—are scrambling for backup chips, worried about delayed launches. The global supply chain is sweating, but, as experts point out, those parts are pretty standard, so no one’s expecting a total meltdown—yet.

Switching from chips to cyber—China’s Cyberspace Administration just rolled out new cybersecurity incident reporting measures, effective November 1. Operators and critical infrastructure firms must now report PRC-impacting cyber incidents within four hours. For those dealing in sensitive tech, it’s an hour. This is one of Asia’s toughest notification regimes, aiming to clamp down on anything threatening China’s data flows or economic interests. On top of that, the revised cybersecurity law now targets AI risks and infrastructure vulnerabilities—expect more bureaucracy and maybe more surprises for Western cloud and SaaS providers operating in China.

Meanwhile, the US Congress keeps volleying new tech export bans and data rules toward Beijing. New proposed laws tried to block Chinese entities from renting top-shelf AI chips via US cloud services, but got repeatedly stonewalled by mighty American tech lobbies. Companies like Microsoft and Amazon reportedly still offer cloud access and even video surveillance storage for Chinese groups—talk about loopholes, right? Nvidia, Intel, and AMD are in the spotlight, debating how tightening further controls just spurs Chinese self-reliance and turbocharges Beijing’s homegrown AI sector.

In space, US Space Force deputy chief Brian Sidari sounded the alarm about China’s dizzying growth in launch capability. With satellite swarms doubling year-over-year—including the fresh Yaogan-45 reconnaissance system—China’s civil-military fusion strategy is stacking layers of orbital assets for military and disaster-response use. Analysts say, if Taiwan goes hot, Chinese anti-satellite lasers and electronic warfare might blind US communications and intel—a sci-fi nightmare inching closer to reality.

On economic fronts, China fired back by levying fees on firms with hefty American investments and restricting purchases of US-made AI chips for state projects. Plus, those fresh curbs on rare earth exports—12 out of 17 elements—could pinch everything from smartphones to missile guidance systems.

Industry watchers see a tit-for-tat spiral: every move triggers a countermove. Strategic de-risking is the name of the game. Both sides avoid total decoupling, but the tech trenches get deeper—quantum, AI, chips, space, and cloud. The consensus? The great power tech race is accelerating, not slowing. Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Zhongguancun are all recalibrating for a future where resiliency and innovation outgun old partnerships.

My forecast: Expect even more focused restrictions, sneakier supply chain maneuvers, and tougher compliance for anyone caught between DC and Beijing. And...