ASML sold chip machine parts to Chinese military & quantum research institutes last year
Last year, ASML sold vital components for chip machines to a Chinese military research institute and a Chinese quantum research institute, Nieuwsuur discovered in an investigation into confidential ASML information.
The military research institute that purchased a product from ASML is a subsidiary of the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC). This state-owned company is one of China’s leading defense groups. It designs and produces high-end military equipment. The institute makes no secret of its military ties, stating in a brochure that it houses the only national laboratory for military computer chips in China.
In 2024, the institute, called the 24th Research Institute of CETC, bought a part from ASML to fine-tune a chip machine, Nieuwsuur discovered.
The program also discovered that ASML sold a “Deep UV lithography machine” (DUV) to the Shenzhen International Quantum Academy in February 2024. The institute states on its website that it is researching “quantum sensing,” a technique for making extremely accurate measurements.
In its latest report, the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service (MIVD) explicitly warned against China’s development of quantum technology, mentioning quantum sensing specifically. According to the MIVD, quantum sensing can be used for radars to detect submarines, for example, “thus negating their greatest strength, namely ‘invisibility.’”
Due to concerns that Dutch technology would end up in Chinese weapons, many chip-making machines and components are subject to strict export regulations. They can only cross the border with government approval. According to Nieuwsuur, the components sent to the Chinese research institutes in 2024 apparently did not require this approval.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in general, called exports to the Chinese defense industry “undesirable for several reasons.” In response to Nieuwsuur’s specific questions, the Ministry wrote: “Not all high-tech goods are necessarily sensitive and require a license within the meaning of export control policy. This is also the case with lithography machine components. Lithography machines contain many components, technologies, and software. All components are necessary for a machine to function, but not all components play a crucial/strategic role."
The program asked four experts to independently look at the parts ASML shipped to the Chinese research institutes, and they all said that they were crucial for the operation of a chip machine.
“There is no doubt that this is sensitive technology,” Rem Korteweg, a geopolitical expert at the Clingendael Institute, told Nieuwsuur. “I’m really wondering: what were the considerations for carrying out this order? Knowing that there are very serious concerns about what quantum will mean for national security.”
