> And China is now doing something on the hardware axis; which it may have never explored were it not for the sanctions.

Gaining parity on the semiconductor fab front has been official government policy as part of their Five Year Plan for at least the last decade, straight from the Politburo. They were always going to go down this path, and with AI playing front and center on their upcoming plan, there’s even more pressure.

There was never a possibility of them not exploring it.