China ordered the Netherlands on Wednesday to immediately correct its “mistakes” in the treatment of chip manufacturer Nexperia and remove obstacles to ensure the stability of the global chip production and supply chain. Nexperia is a Netherlands-based subsidiary of the Chinese company Wingtech.
“The Netherlands remains indifferent and stubbornly sticks to its own course, showing absolutely no responsible attitude towards the safety of the global semiconductor supply chain, and taking no substantive action at all,” the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
In September, the Netherlands took control of Nexperia. According to the Dutch government, this was intended to prevent the founder from moving trade secrets and production to China. Beijing responded by blocking Nexperia chip exports.
Also read the reconstruction about Nexperia
Nexperia in no man’s land: how a chip company from Nijmegen got stuck between two world powers
Minister Karremans
Although Wingtech has now started discussions with court-appointed administrators of Nexperia about control of the chip manufacturer, outgoing Minister of Economic Affairs Vincent Karremans has defended his decision to intervene. In a recent interview with The Telegraph he again defended his intervention at Nexperia.
“I wouldn’t describe it as pleasant, but it was necessary,” he told the newspaper. “And I don’t let my decisions be guided by whether they are pleasant or not.” In response to Karremans’ comments, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce called the Dutch position “confusing.”
“China has repeatedly emphasized that the Netherlands’ inappropriate administrative intervention in Nexperia’s internal affairs has led to a crisis in the global semiconductor supply chain, and that the Netherlands must bear full responsibility for this,” the ministry said.
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