Tensions with Beijing in the ongoing global conflict over technology and intellectual property have escalated since the Dutch government took over the Chinese-owned semiconductor company Nexperia.
Citing concerns that confidential technology might be passed to Wingtech, Nexperia's Chinese parent company, officials declared late Sunday that they had stepped in to disrupt the company's operations.
Under the rarely used "Availability of Goods Act," the government has the power to overturn or prevent Nexperia's management choices if it believes they pose a risk to the country's or the economy's stability.
Following the announcement, Wingtech's stock fell by ten percent in Shanghai on Monday. The Dutch government stated that the action was required to safeguard "crucial technological knowledge," even though it will not take ownership.
Wingtech said it would look for legal and diplomatic assistance to defend its interests and denounced the action as "excessive interference driven by geopolitical bias."
Nexperia, formerly a division of the massive Dutch electronics company Philips, stated that it still complies with all applicable laws and rules.
The ruling is made as international scrutiny of Chinese technology investments heats up. Because Wingtech claimed to have helped China in obtaining sensitive semiconductor technologies, the company was placed on the U.S. trade blacklist in late 2024.
Wingtech chairman Zhang Xuezheng was also removed from Nexperia's boards by an Amsterdam court, and a non-Chinese independent director was chosen to take his place.
Although the company Nexperia, which makes chips for consumer electronics and automobiles, is still in business, the action represents a new turning point in Europe's expanding attempts to protect its semiconductor sector from foreign dominance.
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