Nexperia debacle shows Europe trapped between US and China, analysts say - South China Morning Post

"There's very little that Europe can do actually, because whatever you do there will be damage," said Frans-Paul van der Putten, founder of Dutch consulting firm ChinaGeopolitics. "That is the core of the problem: you will damage your security or your economic position, or both." (...) Though The Hague has insisted it did not act due to US pressure – with officials stating the fact the seizure happened a day after Washington widened its trade blacklist was "absolutely" a coincidence – some analysts remain suspicious. "It's absolutely not a pure coincidence, I don't believe that at all," van der Putten said. While it was probably true that the Dutch government had not been directly in touch with the US government – or any other government – before it took the decision, the US was a major factor behind the move, he added. (...) "It is an approach by the Dutch government that I hadn't seen before," van der Putten said, adding that The Hague's decision to take such an action could have important consequences for the Sino-Dutch relationship. (...) The point resonated with van der Putten, who said the old Dutch and European model of trying to find solutions that could please both Beijing and Washington was becoming increasingly unworkable. Before the takeover, the Dutch government was trying to build a mechanism that would allow Nexperia to remain owned by the Chinese chip firm Wingtech but give The Hague more control, according to van der Putten. The hope was that this would allow the firm to stay under Chinese ownership and off Washington's trade blacklists. "It seems to me very desperate to think that this could be the solution," van der Putten said. The picture that emerged from the Nexperia case was of Europe struggling to defend its trade ties with China amid US pressure, van der Putten said. "Generally in these instances the US can put so much pressure on European companies and European governments that they will largely get what they're aiming for," he said. For van der Putten, Europe needs to act quickly to be more unified and autonomous if it does not want to be torn apart in the struggle between China and the US. "The situation is really very urgent," he said. "It's not something that needs to happen like 15 years from now. It really needs to happen within the next few years."

Article by Xiaofei Xu. Click here to got the SCMP site.