China’s embassy in Mexico issued a sharp rebuke after a US diplomat urged Mexico to help Washington reduce reliance on Chinese-made semiconductors, calling the remarks coercive and accusing the United States of practising “economic bullying”. Johnson had told the Mexico-US Semiconductor Forum that the United States “will not tolerate dependence on critical technologies from China” and that Mexico must play “a key role” in reducing it. “This type of rhetoric brazenly exposes the mentality of the United States to impose geopolitical competition on others,” the Chinese embassy said. The US government has urged Mexico to help Washington reduce reliance on Chinese-made semiconductor chips. Photo: AFP“What it calls ‘not tolerating dependence’ is nothing more than erecting trade barriers, issuing threats and practising economic bullying.”