President Xi Jinping will summon US technology titans to Seattle this week in what has been interpreted as a show of power.
If he really wanted to cause trouble, the Chinese leader could pop into Boise, Idaho. Micron Technology, a chipmaker headquartered in Boise, rebuffed a takeover-bid in July from Tsinghua Unigroup, state-backed and majority-owned by Tsinghua University, which happens to be President Xi’s alma mater.
The received wisdom was that the management was right to turn down the bid. First, it looked low. Second, Micron makes technology so advanced that US officials would likely block its sale to a Chinese entity (particularly one with close ties to the government) on security grounds.