China targets strategic sectors in Netherlands, report warns, citing ASML

China's use of economic statecraft and espionage on Dutch strategic industries is meant to ensure systemic dependency and Beijing's global industrial leadership, researchers at an influential think tank allege in a recent report, citing pressures applied on chip equipment maker ASML.

China also employs digital operations, legal pressure and physical threats in the Netherlands to achieve its aims, while exploiting the country's open governance, analysts at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (HCSS) wrote in the report covering the semiconductor, maritime and aerospace sectors.

The authors called for a coordinated national intelligence architecture, mandatory risk-based security screening and proactive use of Dutch economic strengths in sectors on which China is dependent, such as aerospace and semiconductors.

The Netherlands is home to technologies that are difficult or impossible to obtain elsewhere. ASML is the only company worldwide to commercialize extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, which are crucial for producing cutting-edge semiconductors that power the best smartphones, data centers and weapons.

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"Gaining access to Dutch know-how or influence over Dutch companies can have outsized strategic value because these firms occupy key positions in global value chains and have international leverage," Hans Horan, strategic analyst at HCSS and one of the report's authors, told Nikkei Asia. "Talent-based espionage relies heavily on human intelligence, coercion of diaspora and academic infiltration, as seen in ASML-related IP theft cases."

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The Dutch semiconductor sector faces the highest risk, with China targeting companies such as ASML and NXP Semiconductors as well as limiting exports of related critical raw materials.

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Vulnerabilities also appear in the Dutch maritime sector. Chinese state-owned companies COSCO Shipping Ports and China Merchants Port Holdings manage substantial cargo capacity in the Port of Rotterdam, a major European hub, as investors and terminal operators.

"For the maritime sector, interference is highly likely to take the form of cyber-enabled espionage, data access and calibrated disruption rather than overt sabotage," Horan said. "Even limited interference will highly likely have cascading effects on energy supplies, industrial production and NATO logistics, such as the delivery of NATO ships."

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To enhance semiconductor resilience, the report urges Dutch policymakers to strengthen personnel vetting for sensitive sites and calls for replacing equipment in critical infrastructure that could expose the Netherlands to sabotage risks, like Chinese-made circuit boards or ship-to-shore cranes.

Beyond threats to the technological edge of the Netherlands, the researchers warn that in a crisis such as a confrontation over Taiwan, Chinese leverage over strategic industries would constrain Dutch policy choices, delay military readiness or limit participation in allied responses.

"The risk is not necessarily immediate disruption, but the gradual narrowing of options available to Dutch decision-makers," Girardi said.

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