► Wen Observer Network Ruan Jiaqi

For more than 70 years, some essences deeply rooted in the bones have never changed-in the face of the strong rise of China's science and technology, the background of robbers hidden in some western countries is increasingly exposed to the world.

Recently, China's leading semiconductor enterprise Zhongtai Technology has encountered major challenges in transnational regulation, with its core assets based in the Netherlands, Anse Semiconductor (Nexperia), due to a paper of the Dutch government, since September 30, its assets, intellectual property and other adjustments have been frozen for a year.

From the time point of view, it is hard not to suspect that this series of operations is a carefully planned "plunder": the United States and the Netherlands have always cooperated closely in the field of export control in the chip industry. Just the day before the Dutch government took action, on September 29, local time, the U.S. government just issued export control penetration rules, imposing additional export controls on Wingtech's subsidiary that is included in the "Entity List" and holds more than 50% of the shares. Strong export controls.

The Financial Times also noted that the Dutch government's actions "follow the US side"; Bloomberg said that the Trump administration had just expanded the scope of sanctions before the Netherlands, highlighting the increasing censorship of sensitive sectors of Chinese-owned enterprises.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a conference recording obtained by the company showed that a senior executive told investors in a telephone conference on Sunday that the Dutch government's directives were based on new U.S. regulations as an excuse to take control.

The executive told investors at the time, ¡°The Dutch Department of Economic Affairs is clearly a gentle sheep behind the U.S. government.¡±

In response, a spokesman for the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs argued that the United States did not participate in the Netherlands' decision-making against Nexperia. Reuters also mentioned that the spokesman declared that the timing of this operation was "purely coincidental".

The Wall Street Journal also noted that the Dutch government claimed in a weekend statement that one of the reasons for its action was the presence of so-called ¡°serious governing deficiencies and problematic behavior¡± within the Assembly, but the Netherlands did not provide any details and the spokesman declined to comment.

Semiconductor clean inside the factory

According to public information, Anshi Semiconductor is headquartered in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. It is the foundation of Wentai Technology's core semiconductor business, focusing on discrete devices and logic devices. Its predecessor was a division of NXP Semiconductors. It was operated independently in 2017 and was wholly acquired by Wentai Technology in 2019. It is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Wentai Technology. In 2024, Anshi Semiconductor's revenue will be approximately 14.7 billion yuan, accounting for approximately one-sixth of Wentai Technology's total revenue that year.

On the 12th local time, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs claimed in a statement that this was the first time that the government of the country had activated the Goods Availability Act because of "the continuity and security of key technical knowledge and capabilities in the Netherlands and Europe". Threats ".

The statement argued, "The decision aims to guard against the risk that products (finished and semi-finished products) produced by Nexperia may not be available in an emergency, including chips used in the European automotive industry and consumer electronics."

Wentai emphasized to the media that the Dutch government's order was based on the so-called "ensuring the security of the supply chain", but the company believes that the scope and strict restrictions of the order far exceed conventional risk management and control. It is a normal operation. The company has implemented a seriously unreasonable external takeover.

The Semiconductor Park.

The Dutch government on the grounds of unnecessary "national security", the implementation of global operations freeze on Anselm Semiconductor, is based on excessive intervention of geopolitical prejudice, the Dutch government strongly protested against this discriminatory treatment against Chinese-owned enterprises.

Anchor Semiconductor¡¯s spokesman told CNBC on Monday that the company did not comment further, but stressed that it ¡°complies with all existing laws, export control and sanctions systems¡± and is stillining regular communication with relevant departments.

The Financial Times directly said that the Dutch government's move will exacerbate the friction between Western countries and China in the field of high-end technology. Bloomberg and others also warned that this "extraordinary" move will further exacerbate tensions between China and Europe.

Courtial of the Jacques Delors Research Institute for Europe told the BBC that the Dutch government¡¯s move puts so-called economic security above ¡°the principle of free market investment.¡±

Alexandre Ferreira Gomes, a researcher at the Clingendael Institute, also warned Bloomberg that China is likely to take countermeasures.

"It is reasonable to expect that China's countermeasures will be targeted at the broader European semiconductor industry, not just for Dutch companies operating in China," he said.

European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said the EU hasined "strict communication" with the relevant authorities in the Netherlands and will work with the Netherlands to promote "follow-up initiatives" to safeguard the key technological capabilities of the European continent.

Regarding the Dutch government's restrictive measures on Chinese enterprises, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Zheng responded on October 13: "Your questions are suggested to the competent authorities of the Chinese side to understand."

He also emphasized that China has always opposed generalizing the concept of national security and adopting discriminatory practices against enterprises in specific countries. Relevant countries should earnestly abide by market principles and not politicize economic and trade issues. China is unwavering in its determination to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

Extended reading

In the face of the US unreasonable blockade pressure, China offered the rare earth new regulation this "shock bomb", and in the past became the U.S. "card neck tool" Dutch light engraving machine manufacturer Asma (ASML), but now find their situation difficult.

Dutch lithography machine maker ASML finds itself in a tough spot

According to a Bloomberg report on October 10, local time, as the Sino-US trade game continues, companies in the global semiconductor supply chain are preparing to cope with the impact of the escalating situation. According to a person familiar with the matter, China's new rare earth regulations may cause several weeks of shipment delays for ASML, which is the only manufacturer in the world that produces the most advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment.

Semiconductor manufacturing machines sold by Asma and Applied Materials are dependent on rare earth, as these devices contain ultra-precision lasers, magnets and other components that use rare earth elements.

A source familiar with ASML said that ASML is preparing for potential business interruption, especially because the new Chinese regulations require foreign companies to obtain approval before re-exporting products containing Chinese rare earths. The source added that ASML is currently lobbying allies in the Netherlands and the United States to seek alternatives. ASML declined to comment.

A senior manager at a major U.S. chip company said the company was still assessing the potential impact, but the most obvious risk currently facing is the rise in the price of rare earth magnets, which are crucial in the chip supply chain. An executive at another U.S. chip company said the company was eager to determine which products contained rare earths from China and worried that China's export licensing system could cause its supply chain to stall.

A high numerical aperture extreme ultraviolet system equipment from ASML

"This is the strictest export controls China has implemented to date," said Gracelin Baskaran, an expert on key mineral issues at the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)."It is clear that they (China) have enough power and leverage that not only American companies must comply, but companies around the world must also comply."

Jacob Feldgoise, senior data research analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technologies at the University of Georgetown, said: ¡°In the semiconductor value chain, China¡¯s new export control measures may have the biggest impact on chip manufacturers that use rare-earth chemicals in the process and tool manufacturers that integrate rare-earth magnets into their devices.¡±

According to reports, some of the world's largest chipmakers, including Intel, TSMC and Samsung Electronics, rely on Asmail's equipment to produce semiconductors. Currently, Samsung Electronics and Intel declined to comment, and TSMC did not respond to requests for comment.

According to Bloomberg, this is not the rare earth for the first time to become the focus of the Chinese-US trade game. Earlier this year, U.S. President Trump abused high tariffs on China, China immediately introduced a series of precise counter-attack measures, in addition to the imposition of tariffs, also on uranium, uranium, uranium, uranium, uranium, uranium, uranium, uranium and other 7 categories of heavy and rare earth-related items to implement export control. The British "Financial Times" at the time had cited the industry disclosed that China is establishing an export license system. In December 2024, China also announced strict control of U.S. exports of uranium, uranium, uranium, superhard materials, graphite and other related two-use items

After multiple rounds of tariff wars, since May this year, China and the United States have held four rounds of economic and trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland, London, England, Stockholm, Sweden, and Madrid, Spain.

Rare earth metals and magnets are the core materials for high-tech products such as smartphones, electric vehicles, and fighter jets. China has long realized its importance and spent decades establishing a dominant position in global rare earth mining and processing. Data shows that China controls about 70% of the world's rare earth mining, 90% of separation and processing, and 93% of magnet manufacturing.

China dominates the global market for rare earth magnets

According to the new regulations announced by China's Ministry of Commerce on October 9, China will implement export controls on some overseas rare earth-related items and rare earth-related technologies containing Chinese ingredients. According to the Financial Times, this means that all magnets that contain Chinese rare earth components or are produced by Chinese rare earth mining, smelting and magnetisation technology need to be approved by foreign companies when exporting them.

The new regulations coverage contains 0.1% or more of China's rare earth components, foreign-made rare earth magnets and some semiconductor materials, as well as the items listed using rare earth mining, metallurgy separation, metal metallurgy, magnetic materials manufacturing, rare earth secondary resource recycling and recycling related technologies produced abroad, these items will apply from December 1; for the items listed originated in China, the new rules will be implemented immediately.

In addition, for most export licenses for military use, China is "principally not permitted"; China will also "approve case by case" for export applications involving the development of AI with potential military uses.

Reuters noted that on October 9, in addition to issuing two announcements on strengthening export controls on rare earth-related items, China also announced several additional announcements on the same day, not only adding several new rare earth elements and dozens of rare earth processing equipment to the export control list, but also involving superhard materials, lithium batteries and artificial graphite anode materials. The report believes that these measures are very important for trade negotiations between China and the United States and will help enhance China's influence.

The semiconductor supply chain is vulnerable to such initiatives in China today, as large chip factories rely on providing dedicated equipment, sophisticated processes and the final packaging of the enterprise ecosystem.

In the past, both the Trump and Biden administrations have supported this industry through subsidies and other policies, but local production capacity as a whole is still in its infancy. "This is a real pain point for AI companies in the U.S.," said Joseph Hoefer, chief AI officer at lobbying firm Monument Advocacy.

In addition to the United States, Europe can¡¯t stand still.

According to Bloomberg News, on October 10 local time, a spokesperson for the German Ministry of Economy said in response to China's new regulations that it was too early to assess the impact of the new regulations, but Germany "is currently conducting in-depth discussions on this issue at the national and EU levels." The spokesman later claimed that China's increasingly tightening restrictions on exports of key minerals in the technology industry were "great concern" and said Germany must reduce its dependence on supplies outside the European Economic Area.

According to a report by the New York Times, the day before (October 9), European Commission Spokesperson Orof Gill said at a press conference that the EU was "concerned" about China's latest export restrictions. He added: "The European Commission hopes that China will demonstrate a reliable partner posture and ensure a stable and predictable supply of key raw materials."

On October 9, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce responded to reporters 'questions on strengthening export control of rare earths related items and stated that rare earths related items have dual-use attributes for military and civilian purposes, and it is an international common practice to implement export control on them. To this end, the China government has implemented controls on some overseas rare earths related items containing China ingredients in accordance with the law, with the purpose of better safeguarding national security and interests and better fulfilling international obligations such as non-proliferation.

As a responsible big country, China's implementation of controls on related goods reflects the consistent position of firmly safeguarding world peace and regional stability, and actively participating in international efforts to prevent proliferation.China is willing to strengthen communication and cooperation with all parties through the multilateral export control dialogue mechanism, promote compliance trade, and guarantee the security and stability of the global industrial supply chain.