Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten set to visit China next spring: sources - South China Morning Post

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten is set to visit China next spring, two sources familiar with the planning have told the South China Morning Post.

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"The current Dutch government is interested in stable relations with the Chinese government," said Frans-Paul van der Putten, founder of Dutch consulting firm ChinaGeopolitics.

He said that contrasted with the initial thoughts of many observers, who had expected a tougher stance following the formation of Jetten's cabinet because it included ministers with a history of criticising Beijing, including Trade Minister Sjoerd Sjoerdsma who was subjected to sanctions by China in 2021 for his criticism of alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Van der Putten said the key factor was the changing relationship between the United States and Europe, because with Washington no longer proving to be the reliable ally it once was, the Dutch government had been forced to diversify.

The Hague has been gradually building up to Jetten's visit, first sending Silvio Erkens, minister for food security, fisheries and horticulture, to China in May, and then Sjoerdsma in July.

"It's some form of taking away distrust between the two countries following what happened with Nexperia," van der Putten said.

A visit to China by Dutch Economy Minister Heleen Herbert this autumn was also under consideration, one of the sources said on Wednesday, with that visit largely dependent on the outcome of the Dutch Enterprise Chamber's investigation into Wingtech's management of Nexperia.

Herbert inherited the situation from predecessor Vincent Karremans, who set off the crisis in September when he invoked a Cold-War-era law to effectively seize control of Nexperia, a semiconductor firm based in the Netherlands, over fears that its Chinese parent, Wingtech, would shift the firm's technology and production to China.

Van der Putten said Jetten was expected to focus on the same issues raised by Sjoerdsma – semiconductors and the bilateral trade imbalance – with the Netherlands pushing for greater market access for Dutch products, particularly agricultural goods.

Washington's proposed Multilateral Alignment of Technology Controls on Hardware (Match) Act would further restrict Dutch semiconductor giant ASML's sales in China. The Dutch government has objected to the measures, with Jetten personally raising its concerns during a trip to Washington in April, Sjoerdsma told Dutch lawmakers in May.

Article by Xiaofei Xu.