In the past two days, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg once again used the so-called "aid to Russia" as an excuse to smear China and incite conflicts, in an attempt to sow discord between China and Europe. #军史观察团#
Although such a statement is pure nonsense, it was never thought that there were really European countries affected.
Recently, as soon as the new Dutch Prime Minister Schof was sworn in, he said that the Netherlands trusts the United States and strongly supports NATO. Such a statement undoubtedly means that the Netherlands also supports NATO's spearhead against China.
On relations with China, Schoff also expressed his position. Schof said the Netherlands would be cautious about China on issues related to national security.
The national security issue that Schoff is talking about here should be referring to the export of sensitive chip manufacturing equipment from the Netherlands to China. Prior to this, the United States had repeatedly pressured the Netherlands to expand restrictions on China in the field of chip manufacturing.
Schof's attitude toward China this time is markedly different from that of the previous Dutch government. In response to US pressure, former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte has long adopted a resistive attitude and insisted on putting the interests of the Netherlands first.
However, according to Schof's trust in the United States, the Netherlands may not adopt more American proposals in the future. The cautious attitude towards China here is probably paving the way for the Netherlands to make a move against China in the future.
The logic is that if the Netherlands expands restrictions on China in the future, it must be related to national security issues.
However, if the Dutch do do that, they will lose more than they gain.
Taking the trade volume between the two countries last year as an example, out of nearly $120 billion in bilateral trade, the Netherlands exported only about $17 billion. Once the Netherlands imposes restrictions in the field of chips, then their exports to China will be hit hard.
China is one of the largest chip markets in the world, and Dutch chip manufacturing equipment has a wide market demand in China. In the first quarter of this year, Chinese mainland was the company's largest export market, accounting for nearly 50% of its sales, according to data released by Dutch lithography giant ASML. By comparison, they account for just 6 percent of exports to the United States.
This is a mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, but the Dutch side wants to give it up.
As soon as he took office, Schoff made it clear that he had a completely different attitude toward China and the United States, and there must be a reason behind it.
On the one hand, the new Dutch cabinet is a multi-party coalition with many irreconcilable contradictions. This can also be seen from the fact that the formation of the new cabinet took more than seven months to complete.
Under such circumstances, Schoff, as an independent, may have made overtures to the United States in order to safeguard his own interests and consolidate power. By pandering to NATO's and U.S. positions, he may be able to gain more support and stability in domestic politics.
On the other hand, the fact that former Dutch Prime Minister Rutte will have a new identity after leaving office and that he is about to take over as NATO Secretary General is in itself a strong signal.
It can be seen from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's many negative China-related remarks that this position is the "spokesperson" of the United States.
Ironically, during a visit to China earlier this year, Rutte also said that if he became NATO's secretary general, he would work to improve NATO's relations with Asia.
Public opinion at the time believed that this could be seen as a promise to China that Rutte would avoid an escalation of the conflict between NATO and China. On the ground, however, it seems that it will be difficult for the Dutch side to deliver on such a promise.
Of course, since Schoff has not yet taken concrete action, it may take time to verify whether there will be a major shift in the direction of the Netherlands' approach to China.
However, the Dutch side needs to understand that the so-called national security issues frequently mentioned by the United States are purely rhetorically created to target China.
For example, in the past two days, the Pentagon has slapped the face in the face, claiming that China's Huawei is a so-called threat to the national security of the United States, and calling on allies to take action against China. But at the same time, they had a showdown with the United States, saying that the Pentagon could not do without Huawei.
In addition, for Schof, rather than pointing the finger at China, how to keep ASML is probably the most important issue to be solved at the moment.
It is reported that the new Dutch government is expected to introduce the most stringent immigration policy, but ASML has long expressed strong protest against this. Almost 40% of the company's employees are foreigners, and key departments such as R&D also employ international students on a permanent basis.
Once the new immigration policy in the Netherlands is implemented, ASML will not only face a shortage of talents, but also increase its costs in all aspects.
It is precisely because of this that there were previous rumors that ASML was considering moving out of the Netherlands. Moreover, ASML did not directly deny this news.
Just imagine, if the Netherlands really pandered to the United States' attack on China, which would seriously affect ASML's exports to China, coupled with the troubles caused by the new Dutch immigration policy, ASML could really take that step.
In the end, the relationship between China and the Netherlands became worse, and ASML was accepted by the United States or other countries, and the Netherlands simply lost its wife and soldiers. In short, we still hope that the new Dutch government will be able to handle its relations with China in a pragmatic manner.