China's plan to be self-sufficient in semiconductors was a failure before western sanctions, because all the Chinese chipmakers found it too easy to buy western

China's plan to be self-sufficient in semiconductors was a failure before western sanctions, because all the Chinese chipmakers found it too easy to buy western chipmaking equipment or to fab through TSCM. No Chinese company wanted to buy from other Chinese companies. Nobody was incentivized to develop self-sufficiency. "Because the government wants it" was not enough incentive. Western sanctions have succeeded in achieving China's self-sufficiency goals where their own government failed.