Seizing control of a Chinese-owned tech firm was a bold move for the Dutch government — straining the European Union’s relations with Beijing. Economy Minister Vincent Karremans shocked the business world in September by invoking never-before-used powers to take the reins at semiconductor firm Nexperia, a subsidiary of Chinese firm Wingtech.
At the time, his ministry warned of threats to “Dutch and European economic security” arising from Wingtech’s “shortcomings” in its governance of Nexperia, which is headquartered in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. The government wanted “to prevent a situation in which the goods produced by Nexperia (finished and semi-finished products) would become unavailable in an emergency.”
Yet, in a stunning U-turn this Wednesday, Karremans suspended the takeover. So what had changed?
In the seven weeks between the seizure and the U-turn, Europe came face-to-face with the reality of its own economic and geopolitical weakness. China flexed its muscles in response, revealing its capacity to cut supply chains that are a lifeline for European industry.
The Nexperia humiliation is a case study in the depth of Europe’s dependency on critical technologies, and the loss of political sovereignty that economic dependency ultimately results in. But it also tells us something about the geopolitical trap that the continent has fallen into. The truth of the Nexperia tale is that the Dutch would not have even considered the risk of taking on China if the company was not in the crosshairs of American imperialism.
“We were absolutely not pushed or pressurised or whatever by the Americans to take action on this,” Karremans said in a recent interview about the Nexperia crisis, a denial that is at odds with everything we know about what happened.
The facts are that US authorities announced on September 30 that they were cracking down on subsidiaries that China has used to get around the US ban on selling chips and chip-making equipment…
Auteur: Ben Wray
