According to a report by the Global Times on November 19, Dutch Economic Minister Karelmans announced the suspension of the intervention against Nexperia, citing "recent changes in circumstances" and stating that now is the right time to take "constructive steps."

Just over a month ago, the Netherlands had taken a hard stance, directly intervening in Nexperia under its own "Goods Supply Act," claiming to prevent the "possible leakage of key technologies" and attempting to control a semiconductor company belonging to the Chinese corporate system under the pretext of "national security."

This sudden change was not due to goodwill or a sudden realization of constructive cooperation, but rather due to being forced to retreat by reality.

The Netherlands wants to ease the pressure from China's countermeasures while avoiding being targeted by European industries. It also wants to maintain a superficially tough stance within the US-EU framework without daring to face the consequences of Chinese countermeasures.

Therefore, this statement of suspending the intervention can be seen as a typical diplomatic move combining European-style political rhetoric with actual submission, showcasing an obvious contradiction: verbally tough, but physically yielding.

Dutch Economic Minister Karelmans

Nexperia holds an extremely important position in the global automotive electronics sector, with its basic chips used in countless end applications, especially in the automotive industry, which almost cannot do without it.

Soon after the Netherlands announced its intervention, China immediately implemented strict regulations on the relevant shipments of Nexperia within the country, causing rapid changes in the supply chain, and European automakers quickly felt the chill.

Chips are crucial for car manufacturers. Once a key component is cut off, the entire production system will suffer a chain reaction.

Car manufacturers in Germany, France, and Italy cannot afford the overall delay of a key supplier.

Therefore, it can be seen that the European automotive industry quickly began to apply direct pressure to The Hague, and even multinational companies fed back the situation to the EU, requesting the Netherlands not to turn national actions into supply chain risks across Europe. This multi-layered pressure eventually fell on the Dutch government.

The Netherlands originally wanted to make a symbolic strong move, relying on the U.S. long-arm jurisdiction against Chinese companies, but was finally slapped hard by reality.

Nexperia

In this round of negotiations, China's countermeasures were not crude confrontation, but rather precise operations.

China did not announce any high-profile sanctions, but instead adjusted the export rhythm of Nexperia's related capacity through its actual control over the supply chain, letting Europe know who is the real leader.

This is an extremely efficient strategy. It did not expand the conflict, but made Europe clearly realize that China controls not just the fate of one company, but the entire industry chain.

From raw materials to manufacturing, from foundry to packaging and testing, China's complete system in the basic semiconductor field makes any European policy action unable to escape the reality.

The Netherlands' intervention essentially touched the stability of the supply chain, and the stability of the supply chain is precisely in China's hands.

This is not a threat, but an industrial law. China's countermeasures allowed Europe to experience once again: the strength of the industry chain is the hard truth, not the so-called "national security" frequently hyped up by the West.

China's actions are precise and restrained, yet enough to make the Netherlands completely reverse course within two months. This is the hard power at the level of the supply chain, and also the core turning point of this incident.

EU flag and Chinese flag

Although the Netherlands withdrew its intervention, to maintain its face, it still added symbolic statements in the declaration such as "reserving the right to intervene if necessary in the future" and "the Netherlands continues to closely monitor national security," trying to create an image that it did not back down, but only adjusted its strategy.

However, these words are typical diplomatic disguises. Stopping the intervention is stopping the intervention. Its essence is that it can no longer continue to confront China, nor can it bear the cost of the supply chain.

The political culture of the EU has always been like this: when reality cannot support the original political position, it withdraws in a technical adjustment tone, blurring responsibility and avoiding forming a public opinion of political failure.

Overall, China won not the management rights of a single enterprise in this incident, but a structural victory in the industry chain.

This year, both the United States and the EU came out to cause trouble, and the result was all head-on collisions. Interestingly, Japan jumped in again. What kind of outcome Japan will have, it's up to Japan to see.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7574629585708220982/

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