【Text by Observers Network, Xiong Chaoran】Just as the Sino-US trade conflict remains tense, Chinese semiconductor enterprises have been "forcibly taken over" in the Netherlands, with this European country now entering the dispute.

According to Reuters, on October 19 local time, Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans said during an interview with the national TV program "Buitenhof" that he expects to meet with Chinese officials in a few days to discuss how to resolve the stalemate surrounding Nexperia.

He added that Dutch diplomats have been working to ease the situation, and he himself will meet with the Chinese minister in charge of the matter within a few days. He emphasized that "the discussion has escalated to the highest level."

However, Karremans still tried to justify it, claiming that "the Chinese believe that the Netherlands is colluding with the United States to interfere in the affairs of Nexperia," but the purpose of the Dutch action "is to prevent the company's former Chinese CEO from transferring business and intellectual property out of Europe."

Just a few days ago, according to NOS radio station, on October 17 local time, Karremans had also made similar excuses, saying that the Netherlands' "historic intervention" against Chinese enterprises was not pressured by the United States, and even accused the Chinese side of "mixing facts."

"The claim that we are under pressure from the U.S. and secretly colluding is not true," the outgoing acting minister insisted, stating that he had never communicated with any U.S. party regarding this issue: "Whether this decision or previous choices, they were all my own judgment based on my considerations."

Photo: Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans, screenshot from video

Recently, China's leading semiconductor enterprise, WenTai Technology, has faced major regulatory challenges, with its core asset Nexperia, headquartered in the Netherlands, having its assets and intellectual property frozen for one year starting September 30 due to a directive from the Dutch government.

At the same time, some foreign executives of Nexperia even requested the court to initiate an investigation into the company and suspend the duties of the CEO appointed by WenTai Technology. The Dutch authorities also required the appointment of a foreign director with decisive voting rights, and to entrust all shares (minus one share) of Nexperia to personnel to be designated and announced later.

Publicly available information shows that Nexperia is headquartered in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and is the core semiconductor business foundation of WenTai Technology, focusing on discrete devices and logic devices. Its predecessor was a department of NXP Semiconductors, which became independent in 2017 and was fully acquired by WenTai Technology in 2019, becoming a subsidiary of WenTai Technology. In 2024, Nexperia's revenue was approximately 14.7 billion yuan, accounting for about one-sixth of WenTai Technology's total revenue that year.

Reuters pointed out that although Nexperia's chips are not cutting-edge products, their production volume is huge, mainly produced in Hamburg, Germany, then transported to China for packaging and assembly processes, and finally sold to the global automotive industry. Currently, the Nexperia incident is threatening the global automotive supply chain.

On October 16 local time, several major automobile manufacturers' organizations in Europe and the United States warned in the evening that chip supply disruptions caused by the Sino-Dutch dispute could quickly affect the U.S. auto production. The report emphasized that the chips produced by Nexperia are crucial for the U.S. parts and auto production.

On the evening of October 12 local time, WenTai Technology issued a statement strongly pointing out that the Dutch government, citing "national security" without basis, imposed a global operational freeze on Nexperia, which is an excessive interference based on geopolitical prejudice, and WenTai Technology expressed strong protest against this discriminatory treatment of Chinese enterprises.

Looking at the timeline, the series of events and operations that have recently occurred are difficult not to suspect a carefully planned "plunder": The United States and the Netherlands have long cooperated closely in the field of chip industry export control. Just a day before the Dutch government took action, on September 29 local time, the U.S. government released a new export control rule, imposing equivalent export controls on subsidiaries of WenTai Technology listed on the "Entity List" that hold more than 50% equity.

The Financial Times also noted that the Dutch government's actions "followed closely behind the U.S." Bloomberg further pointed out that the Trump administration had just expanded the scope of sanctions, highlighting the increasing strict scrutiny facing Chinese enterprises in sensitive industries.

However, the justification given by a spokesperson for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs has a "there's no silver here" flavor. This spokesperson firmly stated that the U.S. did not participate in the Dutch decision-making regarding Nexperia. Reuters mentioned that the spokesperson also claimed that the timing of this action was "pure coincidence."

On October 14 local time, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post reported that court documents made public by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal showed that in June this year, the U.S. notified Dutch officials that they would expand the "Entity List" and extend the sanctions to subsidiaries that hold more than 50% of the equity. After a series of capital operations between 2018 and 2020, WenTai Technology fully controlled Nexperia, and was listed on the U.S. "Entity List" in December last year. The U.S. warned the Dutch government that if Nexperia wished to apply for exemption from the list, it must replace the leadership.

On June 5, the Dutch side conveyed to Nexperia after talks with the U.S. that if the company applied for exemption, the U.S. would "specifically consider relief measures."

In further discussions on June 12, the U.S. added, "we can understand that it takes time to divest equity... but the CEO of the company is still a Chinese citizen, which is a problem. It is almost certain that, in order to obtain exemption, the CEO must be replaced."

According to reports, in recent statements, as the Minister of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands, Karremans did not explain the content disclosed in the legal documents. At the same time, Karremans' continuous justifications could not even convince his own people.

Maaike Okano-Heymans, a scholar at the Kringen Dael Institute in the Netherlands who studies geopolitical and technological issues, told NOS: "The U.S. is determined to contain China from becoming a technological power. Europe has yet to clarify what kind of relationship it wants to build with China. Therefore, the Netherlands' tough intervention measures may have been carried out under pressure from the U.S."

An employee of Nexperia walks through the company's clean room. Visual China

Notably, on October 17 local time, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs stated in a statement, "We are highly concerned about the restrictions on exports from Nexperia's factories in China. We are communicating with the relevant Chinese departments, as well as other European countries' governments and companies to resolve this issue."

Additionally, according to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on October 15, the Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian hosted a regular press conference. A reporter from AFP asked, after the Dutch government took over the chip manufacturer Nexperia on the grounds of national security, the company issued a statement on the 14th, saying that China had banned the company from exporting products from China. Can the Foreign Ministry confirm this?

Lin Jian stated that the specific situation of this question should be consulted with the relevant Chinese authorities. I would like to reiterate once again that China has always opposed the generalization of the concept of national security and the adoption of discriminatory practices against specific country enterprises. Relevant countries should really abide by market principles and not politicize economic and trade issues. China's determination to protect its legitimate and proper rights and interests is unwavering.

According to the official Weibo account of the China International Business Press on October 16, at the regular press conference held by the Ministry of Commerce on that day, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce, He Yongqian, stated that the Chinese government has noticed the relevant situation and resolutely opposes the Dutch government's generalization of the concept of national security and direct intervention in internal corporate affairs through administrative means. The Dutch move not only violates the spirit of contract and market principles, but will also seriously damage the business environment in the Netherlands, harming both sides.

He Yongqian further stated that the U.S. penetration rules are the perpetrators of harm to Chinese enterprises. It is hoped that the Netherlands will uphold independence and autonomy, and take into account the maintenance of Sino-Dutch economic and trade relations and the stability of the global semiconductor supply chain, respect objective facts, adhere to the spirit of contract and market principles, correct the wrong practices, and effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese investors, creating a fair, transparent, and predictable business environment. The Chinese government will take necessary measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.

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