China has been investing billions of dollars in core technologies from semiconductors to artificial intelligence to ensure it reduces its reliance on external, particularly US, vendors and patents. This has been policy for years, but the vast country will redouble its efforts in the face of current trade and national security disputes, and particularly the US sanctions against Huawei. Huawei itself has been increasing its own technology self-reliance in recent years. With ZTE, it is the largest contributor to 5G essential patents. It has developed many key components within its HiSilicon semiconductor arm, and now has processors for servers and smartphones, plus many other chips such as 5G modems. Now, amid the climate of US hostility, it is not only…