ExclusiveChina’s date with once-sanctioned Dutch trade minister on cards for early July: source

A Dutch minister who was previously sanctioned by Beijing will lead a business delegation to China in early July, according to a source familiar with the planning, as the two nations navigate thorny bilateral issues such as newly proposed US export curbs on ASML chipmaking tools and the Nexperia ownership debacle. Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, who was recently removed from Beijing’s sanction list, will lead a four-day visit starting on July 6 with stops in Beijing and Shanghai. In the capital, the Netherlands’ trade minister is expected to meet with Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao, followed by a meeting in Shanghai with the city’s Communist Party secretary, Chen Jining, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Sjoerdsma is poised to be the second minister from the new Dutch government, sworn in on February 23, to visit China, after a trip this month by the agricultural minister, Silvio Erkens. The specific members of Sjoerdsma’s trade delegation were not immediately clear. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs said “work is being done on a visit”, but declined to share more information. Beijing sanctioned Sjoerdsma in 2021 following his criticism of alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region – charges that Beijing has long denied. The restrictions on him were lifted in recent months, a source told the South China Morning Post earlier, though no official announcement has been made. The visit comes as the two countries are navigating a fraught relationship over control of semiconductor manufacturer Nexperia and export restrictions on ASML’s lithography tools, both of which have been squeezed by Washington’s efforts to tighten hi-tech curbs on China. Frans-Paul van der Putten, founder of Dutch consultancy ChinaGeopolitics, said that an urgent topic of discussion between the two sides on the coming trip was likely to be the Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls in Hardware (Match) Act. The bill, tabled in the US Congress in April, seeks to further restrict US allies’ ability to sell advanced semiconductor equipment to China. This includes Dutch manufacturer ASML’s deep-ultraviolet (DUV) immersion lithography machines. “It is unclear, though, what the Netherlands or China can do to prevent the Match Act from being adopted and used against ASML by the US,” van der Putten said, noting that China could retaliate against Dutch companies or individuals if they disrupt Chinese supply chains under foreign pressure. Sjoerdsma recently expressed his opposition to the Match Act in written answers to Dutch lawmakers published on May 12, noting that the Dutch government had raised objections with US lawmakers and the administration. “The cabinet opposes the extraterritorial effect inherent in the American proposal. Every country is responsible for its own export-control legislation,” Sjoerdsma said, adding that sweeping restrictions risked hurting semiconductor companies’ revenues and market standing while damaging trade and investment stability. ASML CEO Christophe Fouquet also warned recently that further US restrictions might backfire by forcing China to accelerate its efforts to develop its own tools. The DUV machines that ASML sells to China are based on technology introduced in 2015, which is eight generations of chip technology ago, Reuters quoted Fouquet as saying last week. Meanwhile, the legal battle continues between China’s Wingtech Technology and Dutch chipmaker Nexperia over the firm’s control. While the two governments could try to reach an understanding on what outcomes they find desirable or at least acceptable, the matter is now largely in the hands of the two companies and the Dutch Enterprise Chamber, according to van der Putten. At the weekend, both sides exchanged fire over whether Nexperia obstructed Wingtech’s audit work following Wingtech’s announcement on Friday that it had filed a lawsuit against Nexperia and three of its executives under China’s anti-foreign sanctions law, demanding the restoration of full control over Nexperia and 8 billion yuan (US$1.18 billion) in compensation.

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Netherlands’ trade chief and his delegation will come at a pivotal diplomatic moment, as The Hague faces pressure from US tech-export laws

The Netherlands’ trade chief and his delegation will come at a pivotal diplomatic moment, as The Hague faces pressure from US tech-export laws