China cannot accept the Dutch cabinet's new policies to further restrict the sale of Dutch chip machines to the Asian country. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this on Thursday. ASML chip manufacturing technologies are among them.
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| ASML headquarters in Netherlands |
The new export limits for the chip sector are vital for "international security," according to Foreign Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher. The cabinet is concerned that chip machines may be utilized to create weapons of mass devastation.
Schreinemacher writes in a letter to the House of Representatives that the extra limits apply to highly particular technology from the semiconductor maker ASML in Veldhoven. According to the minister, the Netherlands holds a unique leadership position in chip technology.
China has now openly condemned the actions. "We are opposed to using administrative tools to meddle and hinder commerce between Chinese and Dutch enterprises," the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs says.
It was already known at the end of January that the Netherlands, the United States, and Japan had achieved an agreement to limit the transfer of chip technology to China.