An effort by Europe to stand up to China and retain local technology is approaching a breaking point.
In a fight over a critical link in the global supply chain, chipmaker Nexperia was wrested away from its Chinese owner by a Dutch court, and now one of the leaders in what are known as legacy chips is racing to defend its independence. If the Nijmegen-based company is successful, Europe would hold on to valuable semiconductor manufacturing expertise and hand the region a rare victory over China.
By pushing back over Nexperia, Europe aims to ¡°set a precedent for what ¡®de-risking¡¯ means,¡± said Benedetta Girardi, program coordinator at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, referring to Europe¡¯s objective of reducing dependencies on China. The intention is to show that Europe ¡°wants sovereignty and autonomy as part of the conversation¡± over tech, even as it seeks to maintain trade relations with a key partner.
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