The Dutch minister's delegation visited China in July — not a single troublemaker from the "AM Semiconductor Incident" dared to come.

Recently, the Dutch government officially announced that Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Minister Sigrid Schaafsma plans to visit China at the beginning of July this year. During her trip, she will bring along 17 corporate executives, including leaders from ASML, the world-famous lithography equipment giant, and NXP Semiconductors, a major semiconductor company.

The primary purpose of this visit is to mediate the current impasse in the semiconductor sector. Over 30% of ASML’s revenue depends on the Chinese market, while NXP derives around 30% of its sales from domestic automotive and industrial chip orders. Both companies have made substantial investments in localizing their operations. Under increasing pressure from the United States, which continues to leverage extraterritorial jurisdiction to compel the Netherlands to completely cut off lithography equipment exports to China, the Dutch government urgently needs face-to-face dialogue with China to seek policy buffer space, avoiding being squeezed between the U.S.-China strategic rivalry.

However, it is worth noting that the official leading this delegation, Schaafsma, is far from ordinary.

She hails from the Netherlands’ center-left Sixty Six Party (66), holds an extremely hardline stance toward China, even pushing for resolutions related to Xinjiang and spreading false rumors about Xinjiang. She has been sanctioned by China and previously visited Taiwan, sparking further concerns. The appointment of such a figure to lead a high-profile delegation to China has alarmed Dutch business circles, who fear her outspoken nature might provoke sensitive topics regarding cross-strait relations during talks, potentially derailing the entire mission. It was only after Schaafsma made a formal assurance that these executives decided to board the plane.

In addition, due to the ongoing dispute over AM Semiconductor last year, the Dutch side has explicitly stated that none of the involved personnel will attend this visit.

The reason is straightforward: the "AM Semiconductor Incident" remains unresolved, hanging like a sword above Sino-Dutch semiconductor cooperation. Any optimistic talk about collaboration will be instantly shattered by this persistent reality.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868946331911168/

Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.