EU countries strive to block “threat” from China

The Dutch government is drafting a bill to ban Chinese students from university programs in sensitive technologies, including semiconductors and defense, Bloomberg reported.

While the language in the bill would avoid specifically mentioning China, the clear intent is to prevent students from the Asian country from accessing sensitive material in their studies, Bloomberg reported.

This is the latest escalation in a diplomatic war between the Netherlands and China over the semiconductor industry.

Commitment to the government

Earlier, the Financial Times quoted Dutch Education Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf as saying that he was considering whether to cut international student participation in some programs, after some universities cut the number of Chinese students due to concerns about their ties to the Chinese government.

Specifically, recipients of China Scholarship Council (CSC) grants must swear allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party and return to their home country within two years of completing their studies, while reporting their activities to the Chinese embassy in the country where they study, according to the Financial Times.

“In general, we do not want to use funding programmes for the purpose of acquiring high-quality knowledge and technology for the state,” the minister said. “We have conducted a study to see how many CSC researchers there are in the Netherlands and in which areas they are active.”

World - EU countries strive to block — Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is said to be one of the universities in the Netherlands that restricts the recruitment of students who receive subsidies from the China Scholarship Council (CSC). Photo: Dutch News

Mr Dijkgraaf also rejected the suggestion that the ministry had a specific policy to “exclude Chinese students” or prevent collaboration with Chinese institutes or researchers in sensitive areas.

Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry said it hoped the situation would not be "politicized and stigmatized." According to the ministry, since the China Scholarship Council has not yet established overseas branches, it has entrusted Chinese consulates to provide services and advice to scholarship recipients. This is in line with international common practice.

China may try to bypass controls by buying knowledge from Dutch universities, Dutch trade minister Liesje Schreinemacher said in an interview.

“We need China for R&D and the green transition, but we also have to see which countries have access to all the research,” said Dutch trade minister Liesje Schreinemacher.

The Dutch Ministry of Education confirmed that it is studying measures to introduce mandatory screening for students and researchers in sensitive fields, according to an emailed statement. The ministry said the measure it is proposing would not involve the government and would not target any specific country.

“The biggest threat”

The Dutch government recently implemented the Investment, Mergers and Acquisitions Security Check Act, which allows them to limit the size of investments or block a deal with international companies on national security grounds.

Like the student screening bill, the new M&A law is also country-neutral. However, Dutch Economy Minister Micky Adriaansens said in an interview with Bloomberg that “Russia and China” are among the countries the Netherlands needs to be “on high alert” with at the moment.

A recent report by the Dutch intelligence agency claimed that China poses the biggest threat to the country's economic security, even though the country is one of the Netherlands' largest trading partners.

They also claim that China targets Dutch high-tech companies and institutions through “corporate takeovers, academic collaborations, as well as espionage, secret investments and illegal exports”.

The Netherlands' latest decision comes as the number of student visas issued by the US to Chinese nationals in the first half of 2022 has dropped by more than 50% compared to pre-Covid levels due to political tensions, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this year, the Dutch government agreed to join a US effort to further restrict chip technology exports to China.

As one of the world's leading sources of machinery and expertise to produce advanced semiconductors, the Netherlands is facing growing pressure from Washington to help create a global blockade to curb Beijing's chipmaking surge.

However, the Dutch measures to restrict exports of the latest semiconductor technology do not appear to be as strong as those taken by President Joe Biden's administration last year, which included curbs on exports of machinery and technological know-how to China .

Nguyen Tuyet (According to Financial Times, Bloomberg)

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