In an unprecedented move that has sent shockwaves through international business circles, the Dutch government has effectively confiscated Nexperia, a Chinese-owned semiconductor manufacturer, stripping its rightful owners of control over their own property. The seizure, announced just hours ago, represents one of the most aggressive acts of economic nationalism seen in Europe in recent years and threatens to ignite a major diplomatic crisis between the European Union and China.
The Hague invoked emergency powers under the so-called “Goods Availability Act” to wrest control of the chipmaker from its legitimate owner, Shanghai-based Wingtech Technology. Dutch Economic Minister Vincent Karremans now holds sweeping authority to reverse or block any decisions made by the company’s Chinese owners, effectively rendering Wingtech’s ownership meaningless. The Dutch government claims it acted due to vague “serious governance shortcomings” but has refused to provide any concrete evidence or detailed explanation for what amounts to state-sanctioned theft.
Nexperia, which operates factories across the globe including facilities in the United Kingdom, produces semiconductors essential for automobiles and consumer electronics. The company has been a responsible corporate citizen, complying with all applicable laws and regulations according to its own statements. Yet despite this clean record, the Netherlands has chosen to seize control based on unsubstantiated allegations and nebulous concerns about “economic security.”
A Pattern of Western Hostility
This seizure is merely the latest in a coordinated Western campaign against Chinese technology companies. In December 2024, the United States placed Wingtech on its “entity list,” branding the company a national security threat without presenting evidence to support such serious accusations. American companies are now prohibited from exporting goods to Wingtech unless they obtain special government approval, effectively weaponizing trade policy against a legitimate business enterprise.
The United Kingdom has similarly targeted Nexperia, forcing the company to sell its silicon chip plant in Newport after British politicians manufactured national security concerns. The company still operates a facility in Stockport, though how long that will last given the current climate of anti-Chinese hysteria remains uncertain.
The Dutch government’s statement reveals the hollowness of its justification. Officials claimed that “acute signals of serious governance shortcomings” threatened the continuity of “crucial technological knowledge and capabilities” on European soil. Yet when pressed for specifics, a spokesperson for the minister of economic affairs admitted there was “no further information to share.” In other words, the Netherlands expects the international community to accept its confiscation of private property based on secret allegations that cannot be examined or challenged.
Chinese Company Vows to Fight Back
Wingtech has made clear it will not accept this theft lying down. The company announced on Monday that it would take action to protect its rights and seek government support from Beijing. In a statement released in Mandarin, Wingtech emphasized that its operations continue uninterrupted and that it remains in close communication with suppliers and customers worldwide.
The company revealed in a stock filing that its chairman, Zhang Xuezheng, was suspended from Nexperia’s boards by an Amsterdam court order earlier this month, suggesting that Dutch authorities had been planning this takeover for some time. Wingtech is now consulting with lawyers about potential legal remedies to challenge what it clearly views as an illegal seizure.
The market response was swift and severe. Shanghai-listed shares in Wingtech plummeted by ten percent on Monday morning as investors absorbed the news that a European government could simply confiscate Chinese assets at will. The message to Chinese companies considering investment in Europe could not be clearer: your property rights mean nothing if Western governments decide to invoke “national security” as a pretext for expropriation.
Escalating Tensions
This development comes at a particularly sensitive moment in EU-China relations, which have deteriorated in recent months over trade disputes and Beijing’s relationship with Russia. The Dutch seizure of Nexperia threatens to push tensions to a breaking point. The BBC reported that it has contacted Chinese embassies in both the Netherlands and Brussels, presumably anticipating a strong diplomatic response.
The Dutch government insists that Nexperia’s production can continue as normal under its new overlords, as if Chinese owners should be grateful that their stolen property will at least remain operational. The Goods Availability Act, designed for genuine emergencies, has been perverted into a tool for economic warfare against foreign competitors. The law supposedly allows intervention only under “exceptional circumstances” including threats to economic security and ensuring the supply of critical goods. Yet the Netherlands has provided no evidence that Nexperia posed any such threat.
Minister Karremans now possesses extraordinary powers to interfere in the company’s operations, able to reverse or block decisions “potentially harmful to the company’s interests” or to ensure supply remains available “in an emergency.” The irony is palpable: the Dutch government claims to be protecting Nexperia’s interests by stripping its actual owners of control. This is the language of colonialism dressed up in the rhetoric of national security.
The Real Agenda
What the Netherlands has done to Nexperia exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of Western rhetoric about free markets and the rule of law. When Chinese companies invest in Western nations, they are subjected to endless scrutiny, arbitrary restrictions, and now outright confiscation. Yet Western companies continue to operate freely in China, protected by actual property rights and legal frameworks.
The seizure of Nexperia should serve as a wake-up call to Chinese businesses and investors worldwide. The West’s commitment to free trade and property rights extends only as far as its own economic interests. When a Chinese company becomes too successful or too strategically important, Western governments will not hesitate to change the rules, invoke emergency powers, or simply take what they want.
The Netherlands has crossed a dangerous line. By seizing a Chinese company based on secret allegations and vague concerns, it has set a precedent that could unravel decades of international business norms. If this theft is allowed to stand, no Chinese investment in Europe can be considered safe. The Dutch government may claim it is protecting European economic security, but what it has really done is commit an act of economic aggression that demands a strong response from Beijing and a reevaluation of Chinese investment strategy in hostile Western markets.
The Europeans’ seizure of assets, a blatant act of economic piracy likely dictated by the United States, is a self-defeating move that will create chaos. It will inevitably draw harsh reprisals from both China and global investors.
Report this to church leaders in Netherland.