Chapter 1646 Swings and Cracks

Washington, White House.

The Oval Office.

Ao Guanhai looked gloomily at the latest briefing presented by Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, which detailed the chain reaction caused by Tesla's battery crisis, the collapse of LG Chem, the separation statements of consumer electronics giants, the supply difficulties faced by Apple and Samsung, and the market reports on "parallel imports from the Mainland".

What is even more glaring is that the briefing ends with several comments from mainstream financial media.

Titles include "The Boomerang of Sanctions: Who is Suffocating?", "The Unexpected Casualties of the Tech Cold War", and "Co-C-hBN: A Rope Around the Allies' Throats".

"Gentlemen," Ao Guanhai's voice, with a hint of imperceptible fatigue, broke the silence. "We must admit that the situation is more complicated than we expected."

In fact, when he signed the document, he also considered the possibility of counterattack from China.

But no matter what, no one expected that the other party would choose to start somewhere other than semiconductors!

And it hits the mark.

It was not until China issued its regulatory announcement that Washington finally woke up from its dream.

The rules of the game are never set unilaterally by them...

But now that things have come to this, there is no time to regret.

There are only two options left.

Forward or backward?

And Robert Chambers, one of the original strong promoters of the sanctions plan, also frowned at this moment.

The losses in the consumer electronics and new energy sectors have far exceeded initial expectations, directly touching the nerves of the Silicon Valley financiers behind them.

He cleared his throat and spoke cautiously:

"Mr. President, our original strategy was well-intentioned, aiming to combat China's technological ambitions. But the current situation... LG's collapse and the plight of our allied companies have indeed exceeded expectations. This has caused unnecessary internal friction and weakened the alliance's cohesion..."

As he spoke, he looked across at Ao Guanhai.

The latter's expression changed slightly, and he was obviously persuaded.

So he continued more decisively:

“Perhaps…it is time to consider adjusting our strategy and temporarily relaxing some controls on certain non-core items, especially those that significantly impact the supply chains of our allies…”

His eyes swept meaningfully over the briefing in front of him.

"Stairs? Relax?" A cold and firm voice interrupted Chambers.

The speaker was another senior senator, Lanael Wright, who has great influence in the field of energy policy.

"Robert, your proposal is tantamount to showing weakness to the enemy, admitting that their countermeasures have hurt us and even our allies!" Her voice rose with a hint of sharpness. "This will greatly damage America's national prestige and global leadership and will only embolden our adversaries!"

Senator Wright leaned forward slightly, his eyes scanning the room sharply.

"Don't forget, China is also bleeding! Their semiconductor industry has been precisely targeted by us, and we've nearly cut off Juchang and Huaxing's access to advanced chips! Minister Penny's previous analysis was very accurate. Semiconductors are the key to China's technological rise, and their importance far exceeds that of new energy materials to us!"

She deliberately emphasized "national interests" and downplayed the current difficulties as a "necessary price to pay."

But in fact, although Wright and several others belong to the Donkey Party, the interest network behind him is intricately intertwined with traditional petrochemical giants.

Now that the new energy industry has suffered a setback, she naturally doesn't want to let go of the opportunity easily.

The situation at the scene was temporarily deadlocked.

At this moment, Penny Pritzker, sitting on the sofa next to him, took a deep breath and took over Wright's words:

"The fact that our opponents are counterattacking with Co-C-hBN materials shows that they have felt the pain and are using asymmetric means to force us to retreat. If we take one step back, they will advance ten steps!"

Apparently, she also supports continuing the ban:

"As long as we hold on for these four to six months, I firmly believe that they will be the ones who can't bear the pressure!"

O'Guanhai had not really made up his mind to back out, and now that Wright and Pritzker had instigated him, he was even less prepared to change his position.

"Lanar and Penny are right." He nodded, then changed the subject, "But we need more effective means. At least we can't let the Chrysanthemum Factory conquer cities around the world despite the ban. This is really..."

He didn't utter the word "shame".

But the meaning is very clear.

After all, winning is not a panacea.

It's like in a boxing ring, you throw the first punch, but your opponent doesn't even shake.

The opponent fights back and knocks you down.

In this situation, even a fool would not believe that the two sides are evenly matched.

"More efficient..." Pritzker's eyes flashed, "That's the software level."

Facing three gazes, she further explained:

"We can expand the scope of our crackdown, for example by prohibiting the pre-installation of Microsoft and Google services on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and other devices produced by targeted companies. This would be equivalent to cutting off global supply of software to our factories...Except for China and the CIS, other markets are highly dependent on our software ecosystem."

Ao Guanhai opened his mouth and subconsciously looked at his phone on the table: "Is it technically possible?"

A second later he added: "I mean, what's to stop people from installing software themselves?"

"It can't be stopped," Pritzker shook his head. "But most people don't like it and won't bother with it. If we just ban pre-installation, we'll affect at least 90% of potential users."

This number was obviously made up by her.

But the logic is indeed correct.

Chambers opened his mouth to point out that this would also hurt the interests of the American software giant.

But seeing the approval in Ao Guanhai's eyes and Senator Wright's expressionless acquiescence, he swallowed his words.

"Excellent," Ao Guanhai finally agreed. "Penny, immediately organize a team to refine this plan, assess the legal risks and industry impact, and come up with an executable plan as soon as possible."

"Robert, comfort the affected allied companies and emphasize that this is only temporary pain and that victory will ultimately be ours. Lanar, I'll leave it to you to maintain Congress's support for the sanctions policy..."

"..."

After completing the deployment, his tone became firm:

"Our position remains unchanged, but we must intensify our efforts. China must pay the price for challenging the rules."

End of the meeting.

However, the storm did not subside.

Just hours after the White House meeting, the direction of public opinion quietly shifted, orchestrated by the interest groups behind Senator Wright.

A sudden surge of seemingly "objective and rational" analytical articles and expert commentary has appeared in major mainstream financial media and technology columns, with a strikingly consistent core argument:

Should the enthusiasm for electric vehicles cool down? On the lag in battery safety technology

Co-C-hBN: An Overhyped Material, an Insurmountable Engineering Gap

Radical New Energy Transformation: A Dangerous Gamble That Ignores Infrastructure and Security Risks

Reflection: Are we placing bets on immature technology routes too early?

……

These articles no longer focus on the specific problems of LG Chem, Tesla, or any one company, but instead target the entire new energy industry.

This naturally includes the Co-C-hBN material itself, which is a promising material for next-generation batteries.

These reports cite various experts, questioning the material's stability in large-scale production, the possibility of cost control, and the authenticity of its long-term cycle life, and particularly highlight underestimated safety risks.

A considerable portion of the content also implies that current battery technology, especially the technical route that pursues extreme performance, has problems and is not enough to support the widespread use of electric vehicles. It calls on policymakers and investors to "return to rationality" and pay attention to the "stability and reliability" of traditional energy and the "necessity of a transition period."

This carefully directed public opinion storm, coupled with the continued turmoil in Nasdaq caused by the collapse of Tesla and LG and the uncertainty of sanctions, produced immediate results.

Panicked capital, like a flock of startled birds, began to withdraw from high-risk technology growth stocks, especially those in the new energy sector, and instead flocked to traditional sectors seen as "safe havens" - oil, natural gas, traditional fuel vehicles, and essential consumer goods...

Heavyweight stocks in defensive sectors in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 have bucked the trend and strengthened amid the turmoil.

The situation within the United States has become more confusing and turbulent due to the chain reaction caused by sanctions and the counterattack of traditional energy forces.

The front line of technological confrontation has invisibly spread to the domestic energy route disputes and capital games.