Kyle Chan(@kyleichan):Three times when China paused a new technology it was racing to build: 1) High-speed rail projects after 2011 Wenzhou crash 2) Nuclear plant approvals after Fukushima 3) Robotaxi licenses after Baidu Apollo Go robotaxi freeze in Wuhan this April In these cases, China wasn’t racing with the US like with AI. But it’s still interesting to consider these cases where a major incident caused China to unilaterally decide to pause temporarily. And one incident—Fukushima

Kyle Chan

@kyleichan

Fellow at @BrookingsInst China tech: AI, chips, robotics, EVs, clean energy High Capacity newsletter & podcast:

参加 November 2010

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Kyle Chan@kyleichan

2026.09.17 02:14

Three times when China paused a new technology it was racing to build: 1) High-speed rail projects after 2011 Wenzhou crash 2) Nuclear plant approvals after Fukushima 3) Robotaxi licenses after Baidu Apollo Go robotaxi freeze in Wuhan this April In these cases, China wasn’t racing with the US like with AI. But it’s still interesting to consider these cases where a major incident caused China to unilaterally decide to pause temporarily. And one incident—Fukushima—didn’t even take place in China.