Technology & Science
China Completes Secret EUV Lithography Prototype in Shenzhen
Beijing’s covert six-year project produced an operational extreme-ultraviolet lithography machine in early-2025—China’s first ability to generate EUV light without ASML hardware.
Focusing Facts
- The prototype, built with ex-ASML engineers, went live inside a sealed Shenzhen lab in Q1 2025 after six years of development.
- Officials have set 2028 as the public target (insiders say 2030) for the machine to fabricate working <5 nm chips.
- Roughly 100 monitored graduates dismantle and rebuild salvaged ASML parts while Huawei coordinates a nationwide supply chain network.
Context
The news rhymes with the Soviet Union’s 1949 RDS-1 atomic test—another moment when a rival power replicated a technology Washington thought was ring-fenced. It underscores the long arc of technological diffusion: export controls, from the 1949 COCOM lists to the 2022 U.S. chip rules, can delay but rarely stop determined state-backed efforts, especially when globalised talent and secondary markets leak know-how. In the near term the prototype is bulky, optics-poor and years from mass production, yet it signals that the semiconductor chokepoint the West erected after 2018 is eroding. Over a 100-year horizon the episode will be read as part of a broader de-globalisation cycle—countries vying to nationalise critical supply chains the way Britain did with radar in 1939 or the U.S. with GPS in the 1970s—potentially reshaping the geography of digital power even if China’s machine never equals ASML’s efficiency.
Perspectives
Taiwanese media outlets
e.g., Taiwan News — Frame China’s prototype as a covert, IP-theft driven threat that seeks to expel the US from global chip supply chains and undercuts Western security. Given Taiwan’s vulnerability to Chinese aggression, coverage amplifies the espionage angle and portrays Beijing’s effort in an alarmist light to rally Western support.
Indian business and technology press
e.g., Business Standard, Firstpost, Economic Times, News18 — Presents the Shenzhen “Manhattan Project” as evidence that China is closing the generational gap in EUV and could soon break the West’s choke-hold on AI chips. Reports lean on dramatic language and timelines that may sensationalise China’s advance, reflecting India’s competitive interest in the chip race and appetite for big-power rivalry stories.
Global tech-policy and industry analysis outlets
e.g., TechCentral, Modern Diplomacy, UX Magazine — Acknowledge the prototype but stress that major optical and supply-chain hurdles leave China years behind ASML, framing the episode as a cautionary tale about the fragility of the semiconductor ecosystem. By highlighting continued Western technological lead, these outlets may underplay the geopolitical shock to reassure investors and preserve existing industry narratives.