China is moving fast — and perhaps illegally — to manufacture high-end chips domestically.

At present, ASML in the Netherlands is the only company that builds the lithography machines required for cutting-edge semiconductors, which alongside Western export controls creates a painful bottleneck for Chinese tech.

Beijing wants to change that: Taiwan says it is investigating 11 Chinese companies for allegedly poaching its engineers.

Whatever its tactics, China may be having some success. One Huawei-linked company has apparently built lithography machines only a few generations behind the leading edge, while the Asianometry newsletter reported on rumors that another domestic company has come even closer, with a laser source capable of competing with ASML but at lower energy costs.