Think Tank Warns: China Targeting Dutch Strategic Industries, Risking Policy Constraints

Central Message

(Taipei, Hamburg, Germany, 15th – comprehensive international news) Researchers from the Dutch think tank 'The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies' (HCSS) have claimed in a recent report that China is employing economic measures and espionage activities against strategic Dutch industries to ensure systemic dependency and secure China's global industrial leadership. The report highlights that chip equipment manufacturer ASML is under pressure.

According to Nikkei Asia, HCSS analysts wrote in the report, which covers the semiconductor, maritime, and aerospace sectors, that China is also using digital operations, legal pressure, and physical threats to achieve its goals in the Netherlands, while exploiting the country’s open governance environment.

The report’s authors call for the establishment of a coordinated national intelligence framework, mandatory risk-based security reviews, and proactive leveraging of the Netherlands’ economic advantages in industries such as aerospace and semiconductors, where China is dependent.

The Netherlands possesses rare and often irreplaceable critical technologies. ASML is the world’s only commercial manufacturer of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are essential for producing advanced semiconductors used in high-end smartphones, data centers, and weapons systems.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick raised concerns that ASML’s EUV lithography machines might have violated U.S. export restrictions by entering China. ASML has denied these allegations. Reuters reported in December last year that former ASML engineers in China had reverse-engineered a prototype of an EUV lithography machine.

Hans Horan, a strategic analyst at HCSS and one of the report’s authors, told Nikkei Asia: 'Acquiring Dutch technology or influencing Dutch companies holds immense strategic value because these firms occupy critical positions in global value chains and wield international influence. As seen in the ASML intellectual property theft case, talent-based espionage heavily relies on human intelligence, coercion of diaspora communities, and academic infiltration.'

The Dutch semiconductor industry faces the highest risk. China has targeted companies such as ASML and NXP Semiconductors, while also restricting exports of key raw materials.

China restricted rare earth exports last year in retaliation against what it perceives as hostile Western trade policies, placing ASML in a difficult position. ASML’s complex optical systems rely on rare earths, and the Dutch company reportedly warned last year that these restrictions could lead to shipment delays.

So far, the Dutch government has been powerless. The HCSS report states that Dutch anti-discrimination laws prohibit espionage review policies targeting only Chinese citizens. The European Union (EU) has a mechanism to counter economic coercion from non-EU countries, but EU leadership views it as a last resort.

Benedetta Girardi, HCSS’s coordinator for Europe in the Indo-Pacific program and co-author of the report, said: 'In principle, this mechanism could be relevant if there is evidence that semiconductor-related dependencies are being used for coercive purposes… but the EU is currently very reluctant to activate it. However, this mechanism was designed with China in mind, so I believe it will likely be triggered in a crisis.'

The Dutch maritime industry also has vulnerabilities. Chinese state-owned enterprises COSCO Shipping Ports and China Merchants Port Holdings are investors and terminal operators at the Port of Rotterdam, one of Europe’s major hubs, controlling significant freight capacity.

Horan said: 'For the maritime sector, intervention is most likely to take the form of cyber espionage, data access, and precision disruption rather than overt sabotage. Even limited interference could have cascading effects on energy supply, industrial production, and NATO logistics.'

The Netherlands primarily exports specialized machinery and food to China but faces a substantial trade deficit.

Researchers acknowledge that the Netherlands faces a complex relationship with China, needing to balance maintaining profitable economic cooperation, responding to rising national security threats, and preventing the erosion of strategic autonomy.

To strengthen semiconductor resilience, the report urges Dutch policymakers to enhance personnel screening for sensitive facilities and replace equipment in critical infrastructure that could expose the Netherlands to sabotage risks, such as Chinese-made circuit boards or gantry cranes.

Researchers warn that, in addition to threats to Dutch technological advantages, Chinese influence over strategic industries could limit Dutch policy options, delay military preparedness, or restrict participation in allied joint responses in the event of a crisis such as a conflict in the Taiwan Strait.

Girardi said: 'The risk is not necessarily immediate disruption, but the gradual narrowing of policy options available to Dutch decision-makers.' (Translation: Lu Ying-zi) 1150715