Restrictions on Dutch company ASML’s export of advanced chip-making equipment to China and China’s cyberespionage were the focus of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s state visit to Beijing from March 26 to March 27.
The aggression and military threats posed by the Chinese communist regime in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years have alarmed the United States and its allies. Following the U.S. government’s announcement of restrictions on the export of advanced chips and chip manufacturing equipment to China—to prevent these technologies from being used to strengthen China’s military—Japan and the Netherlands followed suit.
ASML is the largest supplier to the semiconductor industry and the only company in the world that produces extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) equipment to make advanced chips.
The Dutch government revoked ASML’s license to export advanced chip-making equipment to China in January, angering Beijing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping told Mr. Rutte during the March 27 meeting that “decoupling and breaking links leads nowhere, and cooperation is the only option.”
After the meeting, Mr. Rutte declined to take questions on whether his government may deny licenses for ASML to export advanced chip-making equipment to China.
“When it’s about our semiconductor sector and companies like ASML, when we have to take (export restriction) measures, that they are never aimed at one country specifically, and we always try to make sure the impact is limited,” Mr. Rutte said.
Xi told the visiting Dutch prime minister on March 27 that attempts to restrict China’s access to technology will not stop the country from advancing.
Although neither side revealed the outcome of the meeting regarding the ASML export license to China, observers believe that the Dutch will continue to restrict the export of advanced chip-making equipment to China.
Concerns Over CCP’s Cyberespionage
The meeting summary, publicized by the CCP’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, portrayed Mr. Rutte’s speech in a positive light, emphasizing his remarks on bilateral cooperation and coordination. However, it entirely omitted the issue Mr. Rutte raised regarding the CCP’s cyberespionage activities in the Netherlands.During the meeting on March 27, Mr. Rutte brought up the recent incident of the CCP’s cyberespionage on the Dutch Ministry of Defense.
“Of course, this has been very openly attributed to China by the Netherlands. It was an attack on the Dutch Ministry of Defence that our MIVD has identified and also attributed to China. So yes, of course, I discussed it,” Mr. Rutte told reporters after the talk with Xi.
MIVD is the military intelligence service of the Netherlands, which operates under the Ministry of Defense. The agency stated in February that Chinese regime-backed cyber spies hacked networks used by the Dutch Ministry of Defense.
Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said at the time: “For the first time, the MIVD has chosen to make public a technical report on the working methods of Chinese hackers. It is important to attribute such espionage activities by China. In this way, we increase international resilience against this type of cyber espionage.”
MIVD and AIVD [the country’s general intelligence and security service] emphasized in a report that the incident “does not stand on its own, but is part of a wider trend of Chinese political espionage against the Netherlands and its allies.”
The CCP’s global cyberespionage activities were exposed by the United States, the UK, and New Zealand last week.
The United States and the UK separately accused the CCP of cyberattacks and have sanctioned Chinese entities and individuals. The United States and the UK also accuse Beijing of conducting extensive cyberespionage operations targeting millions of people, including lawmakers, academics, journalists, and defense contractors.
China denies accusations of state-sponsored hacking from the Western countries, saying that the claims are “slandering and smearing China.”
