A Dutch economy minister has defended his country's decision to intervene in a bitter row with China over a Chinese-owned chipmaker, saying he would do it all again if faced with similar circumstances.
The six-week standoff between the EU and Beijing over Nexperia, a vital supplier of automotive semiconductors, served as a "wake-up call" for Europe and the West about their dependency on China, Vincent Karremans told reporters. The Dutch government took supervisory control of Nexperia in September, alleging risks to European economic security.
Karremans said he had no regrets about the decision and would not change it even with the benefit of hindsight. "There's a lot of interest in exactly what happened," he said. "It's like an economic thriller." The Dutch minister recalled high-level exchanges with his German counterpart, conversations with the car industry, and intelligence that showed Nexperia was moving parts of its physical operations to China.
The dispute started after the Netherlands took control of Nexperia, following a US move on September 29 to put the company on a list of companies facing import controls. Karremans said the Dutch were not pressured or pushed by the Americans into taking action.
Instead, the Dutch government worked with the American and Chinese governments and Nexperia's Chinese shareholder to find a solution. They established an independent supervisory board and required Zhang Xuezheng, the founder of Wingtech and CEO of Nexperia in the Netherlands, no longer act as both CEO and head of human resources.
However, things took a dramatic turn when Zhang was found to be moving away intellectual property rights, firing people, and relocating production from Hamburg to China. Karremans argued that if this had happened, Europe's interdependence with China would have turned into full dependency, which would have been "very dangerous for Europe".
The crisis has since been resolved, with Beijing resuming chip supplies to Europe after a deal between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Karremans said the Dutch government is now in direct touch with the German car industry and other clients of Nexperia.
"We are waiting for confirmation that the first chips have arrived," he said. "Once we receive them, we will take the appropriate steps to resolve this issue." Karremans hopes the crisis serves as a wake-up call about Europe's dependency on China for essential tech or raw materials.
The six-week standoff between the EU and Beijing over Nexperia, a vital supplier of automotive semiconductors, served as a "wake-up call" for Europe and the West about their dependency on China, Vincent Karremans told reporters. The Dutch government took supervisory control of Nexperia in September, alleging risks to European economic security.
Karremans said he had no regrets about the decision and would not change it even with the benefit of hindsight. "There's a lot of interest in exactly what happened," he said. "It's like an economic thriller." The Dutch minister recalled high-level exchanges with his German counterpart, conversations with the car industry, and intelligence that showed Nexperia was moving parts of its physical operations to China.
The dispute started after the Netherlands took control of Nexperia, following a US move on September 29 to put the company on a list of companies facing import controls. Karremans said the Dutch were not pressured or pushed by the Americans into taking action.
Instead, the Dutch government worked with the American and Chinese governments and Nexperia's Chinese shareholder to find a solution. They established an independent supervisory board and required Zhang Xuezheng, the founder of Wingtech and CEO of Nexperia in the Netherlands, no longer act as both CEO and head of human resources.
However, things took a dramatic turn when Zhang was found to be moving away intellectual property rights, firing people, and relocating production from Hamburg to China. Karremans argued that if this had happened, Europe's interdependence with China would have turned into full dependency, which would have been "very dangerous for Europe".
The crisis has since been resolved, with Beijing resuming chip supplies to Europe after a deal between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Karremans said the Dutch government is now in direct touch with the German car industry and other clients of Nexperia.
"We are waiting for confirmation that the first chips have arrived," he said. "Once we receive them, we will take the appropriate steps to resolve this issue." Karremans hopes the crisis serves as a wake-up call about Europe's dependency on China for essential tech or raw materials.
so i was thinkin how r EU countries supposed 2 b dependent on china 4 somethin as basic as chipmakers lol, but den again i get why holland took action, didnt wanna loose control over nexperia, esp since they found out zhang xuezheng was sellin out 
& relocatin production to china... that would've been major red flag 
, especially 4 the car industry 
And don't even get me started on how the US got involved, totally unprofessional... 9/29 was just a perfect storm of everything going wrong 
. Honestly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole situation, but one thing's for sure - Europe needs to rethink its reliance on China ASAP 
. The EU's been snoozing while this all went down... 
so the Dutch economy minister is basically saying that he'd jump off a cliff again if it meant protecting europe's interests in china... kinda like how we talk trash about our own government's decisions but secretly wish we could be more proactive 
but at the end of the day, it's all about ensuring europe's economic security and avoiding a full dependency on china 
. But I gotta say, this whole experience has left me with a lot of questions about our own reliance on tech imports from China. Like, how much do we really know about where our school tech stuff is coming from?
! It's all about being proactive and not playing wait-and-see when it comes to securing our tech infrastructure 
. The whole Nexperia debacle was a wake-up call, for sure 
But kudos to Vincent Karremans for taking bold action and not backing down 
. It's all about diversifying our tech options and reducing dependence on any one country 
But at the same time, I can see why China would be upset about this - it feels like Europe is playing both sides against each other. Maybe there's a way for them to find some middle ground? Like, instead of one side being all in and the other side being none, maybe they could meet somewhere in between. 
That would've been a major crisis. And I'm not sure if intervening in someone else's business is always the best approach... sometimes it's better to let them sort it out themselves. Still, kudos to Karremans for owning up to the decision and saying he'd do it again if faced with similar circumstances 
.
Vincent karremans is literally the real MVP he would def do it all again if faced with similar circumstances tbh 
but seriously th crisis was resolved cuz china resumed chip supplies after trump & xi Jinping's deal in south korea 
and we can all breathe a sigh of relief 
.
. It shows they're not just trying to be tough guys, but also thinking about how their actions affect others 
. But hey, at least the Dutch government is willing to take risks and make some changes to mitigate those risks 
.
. I guess it's good that they were able to resolve the crisis, but I hope they learned something from this experience 
and car industry losses 
and Netherlands was right to step in 
stats show that 70% of EU's automotive semiconductors came from china last year 
here are some key stats on EU-China semiconductor trade:
70% of eu's automotive semiconductors came from china last year
and it's not like they just acted alone... 