Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that he had “critical conversations” with China’s visiting vice premier about chipmaking equipment supplier ASML and human rights on Jan. 24.
Observers have said that the Dutch government is unlikely to loosen export control of ASML equipment for semiconductor chips to China as the human rights conditions aren’t expected to improve under its ruling regime, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Schoof told reporters after his meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, “China is an extremely important trade partner, particularly for the Netherlands, and that means you have to take that into account in all your meetings.”
He said the Dutch government did not expect a change in U.S. policy during Trump’s administration on semiconductor equipment exports. While the Netherlands decides its own export policies, the Netherlands and the United States are close allies. “We have to wait for what the American government comes forward with,” Schoof said.
Ding also met with Willem-Alexander, the King of the Netherlands, during his visit.
The Chinese regime’s foreign ministry said Ding had told Dutch dignitaries that China wants to work with the Netherlands to “keep the global industrial and supply chains stable and unimpeded.”
The Chinese regime’s ministry of commerce said that it “firmly opposes” the new semiconductor export control measures.
Semiconductor chips are used in almost every electronic sector, including computers, mobile phones, automobiles, communication systems, and military equipment such as missile guidance systems.
The aggression and military threats by the CCP in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years have alarmed the United States and its allies. Since 2022, the United States has announced various restrictions on the export of advanced chips and chip manufacturing equipment to China in hopes of preventing these technologies from being used to strengthen China’s military.
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.
Due to security concerns, the Dutch government has never allowed ASML to export its most advanced EUV equipment to China. Per the United States’ request, the Dutch government expanded export control to NXT:2000 series and some more advanced deep ultraviolet (DUV) equipment in September 2023.
In September 2024, the Dutch government expanded the export bans to ASML’s 1970i and 1980i DUV immersion lithography machines. These two models are mid-range products in ASML’s DUV product line.
As to whether Ding’s visit could have any effect on the Dutch ASML export ban, Su Tzu-yun, researcher and director of the Division of Defense Strategy and Resources at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, told The Epoch Times on Jan. 25 that it is unlikely that ASML will relax its export controls.
“Especially now with Trump’s second presidency, he is tightening the technological containment of the Chinese regime, with ally countries. So, I think the visit by the Chinese vice premier may not have any effect,” he said.
Although China is ASML’s biggest buyer, “the issue of AI chips is no longer a purely market issue, but a security issue,” Su said.
“The chances of ASML relaxing export restrictions on AI chip equipment to China are very slim,” he said.
Shen Ming-shih, director of the Division of National Security Research at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research, shares a similar assessment.
“The Netherlands’ ban on exporting AMSL chipmaking equipment to China was actually a ban imposed by the Biden administration. Judging from what Trump said in his inauguration speech, this ban is unlikely to change during his presidency,” Shen told The Epoch Times on Jan. 25.
If the Netherlands does not comply with the ban and insists on selling chipmaking equipment to China, it may face punitive tariffs by the Trump administration, Shen said.
“That’s why the Dutch PM brought up AMSL during the meeting and said that they were waiting for what the American government would move forward with,” he said.
Human Rights
Schoof said that he also talked about human rights with Ding. Experts said it is unlikely the discussion would spur positive changes in China.“With the CCP one party rule, its human rights abuses will continue,” Su said, adding that it’s unlikely the CCP will change strategies in its relations with Western democratic countries although it might make some minor adjustments in its tactics.
Shen said that EU countries are always very concerned about China’s human rights issues.
“The Dutch PM also expressed that the Netherlands attaches great importance to the development of human rights in China,” he said. “But it’s very clear-eyed that the Chinese regime will never allow Chinese people to have basic human rights, especially now when the regime is facing both internal and external problems.”
