I'll concede that I can't find any information about US sanctions on Zhaoxin but know this much ...
There are currently no Chinese design firms who have been able to use TSMC's 7nm and below process technology outside of Huawei in the past so you can't deny the possibility that Zhaoxin is being systematically affected like the others are even if they aren't explicitly black listed so there's still reasons to think that they're been blocked from using TSMC behind the scenes ...
Even if Zhaoxin is able to use TSMC's more advanced process technology, it doesn't change my initial conclusion the US government is still blocking Microsoft from working with an approved JV by the CCP so it's not some dumb security hardware module that's limiting the official release of Windows 11 in China like everyone else here believes when the CCP requires foreign companies to work with JVs or partners to meet their standards if they want to bring their products for the Chinese market ...
Sure- I absolutely accept that it could be a possibility. Agencies could be surreptitiously applying pressure behind the scenes. It's a very plausible scenario! And I would not be at all surprised if it were happening. China and the US are fighting a technology cold war- China is forcing Western companies to work with joint ventures in order to access the market, meaning that they are handing over IP to Chinese companies. (Look at ARM China for the worst-case scenario of how that can work out.) And America is using sanctions to cripple Chinese companies like Huawei- supposedly over security reasons, but no doubt there are other reasons like wanting to protect American companies from competition. Given most of these companies do have connections to the CCP and the Chinese military, they are easy targets for sanctions.
And yes, you were right about Microsoft's joint venture- I haven't seen it reported on anywhere, but yes, CETC are on the Entity List, so Microsoft are now blocked from working with them on Windows 11. So, yes- I take it back, you were right on that!
I don't think that your initial characterisation of that as
US government is actively working with Microsoft to sabotage compatibility with Windows
was accurate- Microsoft, like most Western companies, are very keen to sell their products to China! That's the reason that they made the joint venture in the first place, so that they can access the world's largest market, and make money. Most capitalist companies will value profits over national interests. (See also AMD's deal with THATIC.)
I just object to speculation being presented as hard fact. Just because something is a plausible explanation, it does not mean that it is the
only explanation. You've taken one piece of solid information and done a lot of extrapolation from there, and then presented all of it as fact- which just muddied the waters! If you had just talked about the Microsoft block, and linked to some sources for that, then it would have been much more helpful- especially if you then presented the speculation as speculation.
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