This article only represents the author's own views.

A courtroom in a remote city in Northeastern China’s Jilin province wouldn’t normally attract too much attention, focused mostly on local matters. But a verdict it delivered last week resonated not only in China, but around the world, as the career of a man who once embodied China’s aggressive ambitions to build up its microchip industry, came to a quiet end.

The story of Zhao Weiguo, who received a suspended death sentence, is in many ways the story of China’s race to catch up with the West in its ability to make microchips that power everything from microwave ovens to supercomputers. But it’s also the story of the many problems that have come with that campaign, including its hundreds of billions of dollars in state support.