China asks Netherlands to stop "cold war" fear mongering with "Chinese threat"

The Netherlands must give up its “cold war mentality” and stop fearmongering with the “Chinese threat,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday. On Monday, the Dutch intelligence service AVID called China the biggest threat to economic security in the Netherlands.

The Chinese government called the AIVD’s statements a false narrative that is not based on facts. The country is annoyed with the Western representation of its policies. The spokesperson called criticism of China recently expressed by G7 (seven economically significant countries) foreign ministers at a meeting in Japan as “malicious slander to tarnish China’s good name.” Moreover, according to Beijing, the G7 ministers have improperly interfered in the internal affairs of the Communist People’s Republic.

The AIVD described China as a significant threat to the Netherlands. China is hunting for “unique knowledge” such as that of the chip machine maker ASML and is one of the countries “seeking more and more power and more influence,” AIVD director general Erik Akerboom said at the presentation of the AIVD’s annual report for 2022 on Monday.

Akerboom outlined that the Netherlands has a “dual relationship” with China. On the one hand, it is an important trading partner; on the other, the country spies “without scruples” in the Netherlands. That is done through (digital) espionage but also through covert investments, illegal exports, and insiders.

“Under Xi Jinping, the emphasis has increasingly shifted to an anti-Western attitude and the emphasis on a communist ideology with Chinese characteristics, which must also be applied in foreign policy,” the AIVD said.

That the Netherlands is concerned about espionage from China and Russia, among others, is not a surprise. Last month, the Cabinet confirmed that it imposed restrictions on ASML for exporting high-quality equipment to China. Akerboom added the worry that the relationship between China and Russia has only developed since the war in Ukraine. “And it’s not an equal relationship,” Akerboom said. “Moscow is the underlying party.”

He pointed out that China’s attitude to the war is of great importance. The country can offer Russia military support, but it can also act as a mediator. So far, China has not done either.