09.03.2023
The technology war between the United States and China is intensifying. After the Netherlands decided to join hands with the United States to contain China, the Dutch government sent a letter to Congress on the 8th, intending to introduce new semiconductor technology export controls. What measures will the Netherlands take to “drop the silicon curtain” on China?
(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The Dutch government plans to impose new restrictions on the export of semiconductor technology to China for reasons of national security, joining the ranks of the United States in preventing China from developing semiconductors.
Dutch Trade Minister Liesje Schreinemacher said in a letter to parliament on Wednesday (March 8): “The Netherlands, based on national security considerations, needs to regulate this (semiconductor) technology as early as possible.” She called these restrictions It will be implemented by this summer.
Although Schleinermacher did not directly mention China in the letter, nor did he mention his own semiconductor equipment manufacturer ASML (ASML), but if restrictions are imposed, both will be affected. What will be affected, Schleinermacher said, are exports of deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV), the second most advanced semiconductor machine owned by ASML and a key piece of equipment for producing chips.
ASML, which dominates the lithography process market, responded on its official website that these measures will not seriously affect the financial outlook for 2023 or longer, but will need to apply for an export license for its most advanced DUV system. The control measures that the Dutch government will introduce only involve the export of its “most advanced” technology; ASML pointed out that its extreme ultraviolet lithography equipment (EUV) has been subject to export restrictions as early as 2019.
The Dutch government’s announcement left unresolved issues, including whether ASML will be able to continue selling DUV equipment to China. Since 2014, ASML has sold more than EUR 8 billion worth of DUVs to Chinese customers.
The U.S.-China technology war continues to rage. After the U.S. imposed chip export restrictions on China last October, in recent months, the U.S. has been negotiating with the Netherlands and Japan, which have key semiconductor technologies, and have also reached an agreement to curb Chinaās semiconductor industry. develop.
Before Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s visit to the White House in January this year, Schleinermacher was interviewed by the TV program “Buitenhof”.
Now Schleinermacher said in a letter to parliament on the 8th that the Dutch government wants to prevent Dutch technology from being used in military systems or weapons of mass destruction, but also wants to maintain “the leading position in Dutch technology“. She said the Dutch government had decided to take “measures that are as careful and precise as possible … to avoid unnecessary disruption to the supply chain”.
China’s technology “self-reliance and self-improvement”
During the “Two Sessions”, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the Jiangsu delegation of the National People’s Congress on Sunday (5th) and stated that it is necessary to speed up the realization of China’s high-tech “self-reliance and self-improvement”, emphasizing that “in the fierce international competition, we must open up new developments. A new track in the field”. In the work report of this year’s two sessions, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also pointed out that one of China’s priorities this year is to stabilize the supply chain.
Xi Jinping attended the second plenary session of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 7th.
On the afternoon of the 8th, when Xi Jinping attended the plenary meeting of the delegation of the People’s Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force, he said bluntly: “It is necessary to strengthen the orientation of national defense science and technology industry to serve the military and win the war, optimize the system layout, innovate the development model, and enhance the resilience of the industrial chain and supply chain.” Outside research and judgment, this The speech shows that China will focus on relying on its own scientific and technological innovation in the future to counter the lock-in of the United States under the US-China technological war.
(Comprehensive reports by Reuters, ASML, Politico, People’s Daily, etc.)
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