Preliminary
Just in October of this year, an open letter from China, like a loud gunshot, broke the old order of the European and American semiconductor, the Ansi Semiconductor China region, cleared the attitude: not listening to the Dutch headquarters, refusing to use the European system, the RMB settlement started.
This move not only draws a dividing line in the chip industry, but also is a positive response to the joint pressure of the United States and Europe. On the surface, it is a separation of enterprises, but behind it is a tussle for dominance of the global industrial chain.
United States to repress, the Netherlands to act, the United States behind.
Just at the end of 2024, the United States first labeled Wentai Technology as an "entity list." The reason is unclear, but everyone knows that it is watching Anshi Semiconductor, a chip giant headquartered in the Netherlands but controlled by China companies. In the hands of the chip giant, it has become a "strategic instability factor" in the eyes of the United States.
Wait until the transition in June, the U.S. Department of Commerce directly find the Dutch Foreign Ministry direct stake: to lift the sanctions, you have to let Zhang Sheng, the Chinese CEO, resign, three months later, the United States has moved out the so-called "50% penetration rule", even if Zhou Tai only holds more than half of a company, also counted into the sanctions list, in other words, the Anxiety semiconductor can not completely escape.
Of course, the Netherlands was not idle. At the end of September, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs directly used an old method dating from 1952, which was to freeze the assets and operating rights of 30 companies in Anshi Global, saying it was due to "national security considerations." A week later, the Amsterdam court suspended Zhang Xuezheng's position without a public hearing, handed over 99% of Wentai's shares to a "third party" for custody, and even the board of directors changed several "foreign faces."
The Dutch local think tank said straightforwardly: this wave of operation was "pressed by the United States to do things", the purpose is to make Anselm "look more like a European company", but the surface changed shell, core production capacity and people are still in China, so this account is not counted.
The Declaration of Independence of China, the RMB became the home currency
In the face of this "silent coup", Anshi China did not shout head-on, but sharpened the knife silently. In mid-October, it directly handed out an open letter and announced confidently: "We are China companies. We do not listen to external orders. We pay our own wages and do our own business."
Although this letter is not long, every sentence is like a nail hitting the iron plate in Europe. Legally, Anshi China has drawn a clear line with the Dutch headquarters, making it clear that it is a Chinese company registered and independently operated according to law, and employees don't need to pay attention to any "remote control instructions" that have not been approved by the legal representative of China.
The salary is paid directly by China itself, and the account is no longer paid through the Dutch headquarters. Even the management system has been completely changed. The original European ERP system has been replaced by domestic software, and the supply chain is no longer connected to Infineon and STI, but It is familiar local faces such as SMIC and Hua Hong Semiconductor.
The hardest trick is to move the dollar cheese, all the domestic business, all the RMB settlement, thoroughly say goodbye to SWIFT, instead of using China's own cross-border payment system CIPS, to know that this is not a simple change of currency, but to hold financial sovereignty firmly in their hands.
More importantly, the Dongguan factory has taken over, as the center of 70% of the global sealing production capacity, the Dongguan base in Dongguan China has not only not been disrupted, but the order delivery rate has been restored to more than 95% before October 20, Volkswagen, BMW and these European factories, of course, do not need to say, have been in a hurry to jump straight.
European chip shortage, Dutch diplomatic first aid, no one is willing to take the blame
China's Ministry of Commerce upgraded export controls in early October, blocking Nexperia China's chip exports. I originally thought it was a scare, but German car manufacturers cried the most. After all, Volkswagen and BMW's assembly lines stopped for hundreds of thousands of euros an hour. A single-day loss exceeded 100 million, and after three months of supply cut off, the entire European auto industry may directly evaporate 20 billion euros.
It was not until then that the Netherlands realized that it had not taken over a gold mine, but dug a hornet's nest. In mid-October, Dutch Economy Minister Kalemens hurriedly flew to China to talk about "technical compromise" and request to resume exports. However, the problem was that while he wanted the chip, he refused to revoke the freeze or apologize. He only suggested establishing a "security review framework" and retaining some veto power. This kind of "giving some face" attitude, who can't see that he was trying to gain both sides?
In fact, this is not surprising to them, after all, the domestic pressure in the Netherlands is also quite huge, the right-wing forces are unwilling to soften their positions, fearing that once they recognize the mistake not only loses the face, but also may face high claims from the Chinese side, both do not want to be guilty, and finally can only be stuck in the middle of the rush.
In China, not only is there no end to security issues, but it has also added to the congestion of ASML. The Ministry of Commerce has taken a two-pronged approach, including rare earth export restrictions + chip component cut-off supply, to accurately crack down on the field of lithography machines. Wentai Technology is not a vegetarian. While launching international arbitration, invoking the China-Netherlands Bilateral Investment Agreement to defend rights, while exposing the entire process of US pressure in the WTO, adding both legal and public opinion insurance to this game.
The industrial chain is not written in the headquarters documents, but falls on production capacity and reality.
The Netherlands thinks that it can control global operations by mastering the headquarters registration place, but Anshi China has proved one thing with practical actions: what really determines the right to speak is not where the trademark is hung, but where the core production capacity is operated, where the chips are sealed and tested, where the supply chain is closed, and where customers place orders. This is the real lifeline.
Europe's calculator is to "de-Chinese", but the result is to move the stone broke their feet, the "penetration sanctions" pushed by the United States has caught the whole of Europe into passivity, the cracks between German car factories and the Dutch government are also beginning to appear, after all, no one is willing to pay for America's strategic anxiety.
This turmoil has also reminded Chinese companies that if they want to gain a firm foothold in the global market, technology alone is not enough. They must also have the ability to "break the chain and continue their lives". Nexperia China can operate independently this time, relying on The complete layout of the local supply chain is self-sufficient from wafer manufacturing to packaging and testing, and EDA tools.
The synergistic reaction of law and policy is also crucial, this is not a simple "carry-a-carry", but through domestic law anti-defense, international arbitration and policy counter-reaction, in order to turn complex international problems into playable codes.
Now, if the Netherlands does not solve the supply chain problem before November, the European industry can really face large-scale shutdowns, and in the long run, this event may drive the global semiconductor industry chain to accelerate the "de-politization", more and more companies will consider laying out a diversified, decentralized cooperation path, to avoid being held by a certain policy, a certain conference.
conclusion
This seemingly Anselm Semiconductor company dispute, in fact, a reorganization of the global science and technology industry power structure, Anselm China's "independent first shot", is not a declaration of war, but a proclamation: whoever controls the production capacity, whoever has the bottom line; who dares to go out of the dollar system, who can build their own rules, the Netherlands wants to dominate by taking over the exchange, and as a result finds real control, not on paper, but on the chip.
References:
Involved in semiconductor enterprises, the United States was bombed had pressured the Netherlands to replace the Chinese CEO
The Global Network on October 16, 2025
Xi Jinping to all employees: the right to refuse to follow external instructions
Observer.com 2025-10-21