The Dutch government said on Sunday it is intervening at chipmaker Nexperia, which manufactures computer chips for the car and consumer electronics industries, due to worries about the possible transfer of crucial technology to its Chinese parent company, Wingtech.
The Netherlands is a crucial part of the global chip supply chain, with chip-making equipment manufacturer ASML at its core. ASML has already drawn a line between itself and China, and the Nexperia move suggests that decisions have been made within the Dutch government that a more solid dichotomy between itself and China is required.
The global trade and geopolitical situation, as we have said before, is forcing players to choose a side, and it is becoming clearer that the Netherlands is tending to side with the US, whatever the consequences of that may be. Intervening in Nexperia signals that there must be something strategically significant about what the company has internally in terms of its research and technology. And the whole thing seems to be a part of the reshaping of the geopolitical map and the race to the finish on AI.