PLAY FAIR, QIN URGES NETHERLANDS
Supply chain concerns raised in meeting with Dutch foreign minister amid looming export controls
China has urged the Netherlands to avoid “bloc confrontation” amid a looming chip technology ban during a visit to Beijing by the Dutch foreign minister.
Foreign Minister Qin Gang called for better access and a “fairer” business environment for Chinese companies in a meeting with his Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra, who is in China on a two-day visit as The Hague prepares for chip export controls.
Calling the Netherlands a “gateway” for cooperation between China and the European Union, Qin said Beijing and The Hague should work together to safeguard the stability of the global supply chain.
“China is willing to deepen practical cooperation with the Netherlands, provide each other with an open, fair and nondiscriminatory business environment, and make the pie of mutual benefit bigger,” Qin said during a press conference with Hoekstra.
Qin also slammed a claim by the Dutch intelligence service last month that China posed “the greatest threat” to the country’s economic security.
“China adheres to the path of peaceful development and pursues a mutually beneficial opening-up strategy. What China exports are opportunities rather than crises, what it brings is insurance rather than risks,” he said.
“Engaging in camp confrontation and artificially cutting off the production and supply chains are the source of world risks.”
Beijing’s frustrations with The Hague were triggered after the Netherlands announced plans to restrict exports of its advanced chip-making equipment over national security.
The move has been seen as joining Washington’s broader efforts to curb China’s hi-tech development and military modernisation.
The decision has triggered harsh criticism from China, which imports most of its chip-making machinery from the Netherlands and Japan. Last year, China accounted for around 15 per cent of sales of Dutch chip giant ASML, which holds a monopoly on the technology needed to make the most advanced leading-edge chips. China is also the second biggest trading partner of the Netherlands outside the EU.
Hoekstra’s visit came as Beijing ramps up efforts to improve relations with European Union countries amid growing calls from within the bloc and the United States to “de-risk” their economic ties with China over national security concerns and trade imbalances.
In an official statement released following the meeting, Hoekstra said he had an open, candid and meaningful conversation with Qin, adding that he recognised the strength of trade ties between the two countries, while emphasising the importance of reciprocity and security.
“Safeguarding our open, free and secure economy and cyberspace is a key priority for the Netherlands,” he said.
“Like China, we have a responsibility to protect our national security. And just as China protects its core interests, so we protect ours.”
Hoekstra, who is also the deputy prime minister of the Netherlands, later told Dutch media that he and Qin discussed the planned chip export controls and shared their “concerns” with each other, without elaborating further.
At another press conference in the Dutch embassy in Beijing, Hoekstra defended the export controls as not geared towards any country, saying more details would be released before summer, according to Reuters.
Analysts said the restrictions were likely to go ahead as the Netherlands was expected to adopt the EU’s de-risking approach and curb technology transfers to China.
At the joint press conference, Hoekstra said he also raised concerns about “cyber operations” by China and reports of foreign interference targeting the country and its journalists.
Qin denied the allegations against China, and blamed Dutch intelligence services and media for exaggerating and hyping up the “China threat”, which he said would “poison” relations between the two countries.
Last month, Dutch intelligence chief Erik Akerboom accused China of conducting cyber espionage in the Netherlands while sending students and scientists to “steal knowledge”.
Dutch media also reported that Beijing had set up secret “police stations” in the Netherlands, and that multiple threats had been made to Dutch journalist Marije Vlaskamp, a critic of the Chinese government, by an individual who claimed to represent “the interests of the Chinese state”.