They are trying, and will eventually catch up, the same way they have in software and in hardware in many other spaces. Maybe it will take another 10 years. Maybe another 10 months.
This idea that EUVL is—and always will be—outside of the reach of China is, frankly, silly. It's a silly strategy to maintain dominance. They will straight up steal the technology if needed.
We should stop pretending like we can roadblock the technological development of the largest country. It's just going to make the fall that much harder. Once they do attain the ability to manufactuer EUVL domestically, capital is going to flood out of US tech stocks like no tomorrow.
You haven't seen anything that hints at it, because most news about what happens in China doesn't leave China. The propoganda machine is hard at work reminding you that China is terrible and eveyrone in China is poor. You'll learn about China catching up only after it's already happened.
That’s just a dumb red herring strawman take on news about China. You can be perfectly informed about what is happening in China, you can also be misled by their propaganda as well. China will eventually catch up in the two areas it is lacking (performant and economical semiconductors and jet turbines) since they are throwing billions at it, but they won’t pass the west overnight (it will still take a few years, maybe a decade).
I have yet to see anything that hints at China being able to catch up with ASML+TSMC+Nvidia.