U.S. allowed and helped firms sell tech used for China’s surveillance state

The sale of U.S. technology to China remains among the thorniest issues the U.S. faces, with billions of dollars and the future of tech dominance at stake.

U.S. lawmakers have tried four times since September last year to close what they called a glaring loophole: China is getting around export bans on the sale of powerful American AI chips by renting them through U.S. cloud services instead.