Javier Borràs Arumí

The China Tech Canon—Asterisk How does the *paideía* of the Chinese tech elite differ from their counterparts in Silicon Valley?

¿Cuál es el canon de lecturas de las élites tecnológicas chinas?

Una mezcla de biografías y ensayos de Silicon Valley, obras maoístas, clásicos chinos, fantasía y ciencia ficción china: asteriskmag.com/issues/12-bo...

Una bomba nuclear econòmica: el que la Xina ha après dels Estats Units El 2019, Washington va descobrir que un buròcrata era més efectiu que un míssil per derrocar un imperi. Aquell any, l’administració Trump va desenterrar una Llista d’Entitats que s’havia creat el 1997...

Vivim en temps on un buròcrata pot ser més perillós que un míssil.

La Xina ha après dels americans i ha desplegat la seva pròpia "arma nuclear" de control i coerció econòmica, feta de terres rares.

La meva columna: www.ara.cat/internaciona...

Now that China got serious about export controls, it would have been very convenient for the EU to have the deterrence power of ASML...

But we gave it basically for free to the Americans.

China is basically copying the US export control playbook:

50 years on, has China left Europe behind in the race for a hi-tech future? Chinese firms have caught up with and in some cases overtaken their European rivals, putting the EU on the defensive.

It has reached the point where the EU mainly views Chinese technology with fear –fear for its economy, security and values, explains @jborrasarumi.bsky.social at @scmpnews.bsky.social. “The EU’s attitude towards Chinese technology is now mostly defensive”

Shocking how Latin America has become the main exporter of agricultural and beef products to China, surpassing Western countries:

European businesses barely use AI. Brussels wants to fix that. Commission to warn Europe’s slow embrace of artificial intelligence risks squandering economic growth.

If EU firms are not using AI, it's because it does not make market sense to them.

Instead of blaming, we should fund AI startups that provide sector-specific AI tools, and train more middle-level engineers who know how to integrate AI in business models: www.politico.eu/article/euro...

Trump’s Drone Deal With Ukraine to Give U.S. Access to Battlefield Tech A team from Kyiv is in Washington this week to work out details of a landmark agreement that would involve sharing drone technology with the U.S.

That's interesting.

The US tech defense industry would strongly benefit from tech transfer from Ukraine on drones.

But one of the hurdles is that Ukrainian drones use many Chinese components: www.wsj.com/world/europe...

China curbs use of Nokia and Ericsson in telecoms networks Beijing’s national security drive hits European groups even as Huawei maintains its business on the continent

I understand that China may have security concerns about how Western telecoms could be weaponized.

But it should also accept European concerns about Chinese tech as equally legitimate.

Even realist Chinese scholars such as Yan Xuetong have acknowledged this. www.ft.com/content/7d08...

These countries have adopted specialization strategies focused on controlling key tech nodes, rather than trying to dominate entire value chains.

5/ Finally, to offer a constructive path forward, I told Meredith that the most realistic strategy for the EU is to stop comparing itself to the US and China.

Instead, it should look to “middle technological powers” like Japan, South Korea, or Taiwan.

To truly benefit from spillover effects, we need agreements that include technology, knowledge, and know-how transfer — while also building local innovation ecosystems capable of absorbing Chinese innovation.

4/ That said, there are also opportunities. The EU and China can collaborate in green tech, which carries lower geopolitical risk than other sectors.

However, the current European mindset leans heavily toward securitization and reducing dependencies — a shift that comes with trade-offs and efficiency costs.

3/ The EU faces a competitiveness–security conundrum.

Affordable and efficient Chinese technologies could boost European competitiveness (though how some European incumbents have responded is another story).

2/ Technology from China is generally viewed with fear and suspicion.

The prevailing attitude across most of Europe (with some exceptions) is defensive.

US pressure to block certain technologies also plays a role.

1/ Let’s start with a basic fact: the mood in the EU around tech is one of pessimism and stagnation.

There’s a widespread feeling that the EU has already missed the boat compared to the US and China.

50 years on, has China left Europe behind in the race for a hi-tech future? Chinese firms have caught up with and in some cases overtaken their European rivals, putting the EU on the defensive.

Happy to appear again in the South China Morning Post, interviewed by Meredith Chen on the future of EU-China tech relations.

Some takeaways 🧵👇

www.scmp.com/news/china/d...

"This [TikTok] licensing path opens the door for more critical, strategic, and advanced technologies to flow from China to the US, e.g. LiDAR, batteries, and rare earths. In other words, technologies that actually matter to national competitiveness."

The TikTok Template Not a one-off deal, but a sign of things to come.

"While the TikTok deal has been receiving most of the headlines, the real grand bargain-like impact is the emergence of a TikTok template. It is the contours of a roadmap and path, however murky and fickle, for other Chinese technologies to flow to the US" interconnect.substack.com/p/the-tiktok...

La Xina: un fre per al desenvolupament del Sud Global? Els documents oficials que publica el govern xinès solen ser repetitius i burocràtics. Però llegir-los en detall, prenent notes, ens pot fer trobar perles que ens ajuden a entendre millor la visió del...

La Xina s'ha presentat constantment com a líder del Sud Global.

Però la seva addicció a la manufactura pot ser un fre molt important que bloquegi l'auge econòmic dels països en desenvolupament.

La meva columna: www.ara.cat/internaciona...

What Will China’s Green-Tech Ambitions Cost the World?

“China is managing to create a new kind of green soft power that doesn’t need Beijing’s stultifying propaganda”, @nytimes.com features @jborrasarumi.bsky.social's analysis 'Green Soft Power: China’s New Strategy in Europe'
Read the full analysis➡️ www.cidob.org/en/publicati...

What Will China’s Green-Tech Ambitions Cost the World?

Here the New York Times piece: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/m...

And my article on China's green soft power: www.cidob.org/en/publicati...

Happy to see my article on China's green soft power quoted in The New York Times!

Mi viaje a Uzbekistán Del desarrollismo post-soviético al esplendor medieval.

Este verano viajé a Uzbekistán unas semanas.

Aquí os dejo algunas notas de campo y apuntes de lecturas, en las que hablo de su desarrollismo post-soviético, su relación con el islam, o cómo se convirtió en centro intelectual y científico del mundo en la Edad Media: open.substack.com/pub/javierbo...

Javier Borràs: “Trump destrossa moltes coses i el temps que es trigui a reconstruir-les l’aprofitarà la Xina” Entrevista a un dels especialistes del CIDOB en la Xina i la geopolítica de la tecnologia sobre el moment inernacional

Crec que aquesta és l'entrevista més en profunditat que m'han fet sobre la Xina.

Amb @otbou.bsky.social vam parlar de la relació de la Xina amb la UE, Índia o Rússia; l'estat de l'economia, tecnologia i l'exèrcit xinès; o la successió de Xi Jinping.

A @vilaweb.cat: www.vilaweb.cat/noticies/jav...

Drones chinos China domina el futuro de la guerra.

El 70% de las bajas en Ucrania son por drones. Y China domina el sector. Escribo aquí sobre si Pekín, gracias a ello, dominará el futuro de la guerra: open.substack.com/pub/javierbo...

Rare to hear an EU official speak as candidly as Weyand here

“From the Commission’s perspective this was a strategic trade-off, not an economic policy ideal solution"

“There was a risk that the USA, in return, would question the security partnership. That is the realpolitik of the turning point"

What Made the Irish Famine So Deadly The Great Hunger was a modern event, shaped by the belief that the poor are the authors of their own misery and that the market must be obeyed at all costs.

I didn't know about the crucial role of ideology in causing the Irish famine: www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Taiwan’s Democracy Is in Trouble How polarization undermines security.

www.foreignaffairs.com/taiwan/taiwa...