Recently, the Chinese president and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte met in Beijing to discuss the semiconductor industry. Relations between the two countries have deteriorated after the Netherlands, along with the United States, blocked the export of advanced chip technology to China over concerns that it could be used for military purposes.
«The Chinese people also have legitimate rights to development, and no force can stop the pace of China’s scientific and technological progress,» Xi told Mark Rutte during their meeting in Beijing.
He added that China «will continue to pursue an approach in which all parties benefit».
The restrictions imposed on China include a ban on exports of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines — Dutch tech giant ASML is currently the only company in the world that produces them. The technology is crucial for the production of chips and is used by companies such as Taiwan’s TSMC to create the smallest and most complex chips (to date, no such ASML machine has been shipped to China).
Beijing has criticized the Dutch government’s decision, calling on the country to «maintain an objective and fair position and market principles» and «protect the common interests» of the two countries and their companies.
«Creating scientific and technological barriers and severing industrial and supply chains will only lead to division and confrontation,» Xi said on Wednesday, according to state media (via CNBC).
Xi said that China is willing to continue the dialogue with the Netherlands and called on the Dutch side to «ensure a fair and transparent business environment for Chinese enterprises».
As reported by Reuters Rutte said on Wednesday that the Netherlands was trying to ensure that export restrictions on the semiconductor industry and companies such as ASML were never targeted at a single country.
«We always try to make sure that the impact is limited», — he is quoted as saying.
Chinese state media reported that Rutte told Xi that secession «is not a political choice for the Dutch government, as any action that undermines China’s development interests is only a boomerang».