ASML-Backed University Caught in Middle of US-China Chips War

(Bloomberg) — A top Dutch technical university that is a key feeder for ASML Holding NV talent has been caught in the crosshairs of the US-China chip war as Washington seeks to limit Beijing’s ability to produce semiconductors.

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“I always get questions from Americans about Chinese students,” said Robert-Jan Smits, the president of Eindhoven University of Technology, which is located about five miles from ASML’s global headquarters. Last year, the US ambassador to the Netherlands queried him about the large number of students from China, Smits said in a recent interview at his office.

Smits’ comments come as the Netherlands, one of the top sources of machinery and expertise needed to make advanced semiconductors, is facing increasing pressure from Washington to stem Beijing’s chip-making efforts.

In the intensifying battle over the world’s chip supply chain, the Dutch government is caught between its US ally and a major export market in China. This year, under pressure from its transatlantic partner, The Hague introduced restrictions on exports of ASML’s immersion DUV lithography machines, the company’s second-most capable category of machinery. Before the ban took effect, US officials asked ASML to cancel some previously scheduled shipments to Chinese customers, Bloomberg News reported.

US Ambassador to the Netherlands Shefali Razdan Duggal declined to comment on her 2023 meeting with Smits.

“We get the message to be careful with Chinese students but who is giving all kinds of visas to Chinese students to go to American universities? The US government,” Smits said, citing US visa numbers for Chinese students over the past few years.

ASML has invested heavily in Eindhoven University of Technology to instruct future employees. In May, the company pledged €80 million ($87 million) to the university to train PhD students and upgrade the school’s clean room building, which is a dust- and contaminant-free environment needed to study chips. The university has a lab building which houses ASML lithography machines for research purposes.

Smits said his institution works with the government and security services to screen foreign professors and advise faculty on safety measures when visiting China. More than a quarter of the university’s students are international. A spokesperson for Eindhoven University of Technology wasn’t immediately able to say what percentage of students are Chinese nationals.

Espionage is becoming a bigger concern as China has made strides in its domestic chip technology. In 2023, ASML — which is the world’s only producer of advanced lithography machines needed to produce high-end chips used in everything from electric vehicles to military gear — accused a former China-based employee of stealing confidential information. It launched an internal investigation and tightened security controls after discovering the incident, which may have violated export controls.

Last year, an advanced Chinese-made chip used in a Huawei Technologies Co. debuted despite US efforts to hinder the country’s chip industry. The chip was manufactured using technology from ASML, Bloomberg News reported.

China “poses the greatest threat to Dutch economic security,” the General Intelligence and Security Service, known by its Dutch initials AIVD, said in its 2023 annual report.

Amid China’s advances, US officials are pushing the Netherlands to stop ASML from servicing and repairing sensitive chip-making equipment that Chinese clients purchased before limits on sales of those devices were put into place.

The Dutch government under former Prime Minister Mark Rutte resisted those additional steps, wanting more time to evaluate the impact of export bans on high-end chip-making equipment, Bloomberg News reported in April.

The new government’s position is unclear, although Prime Minister Dick Schoof has signaled a wary approach to China. The Netherlands has to be “very careful” in talks with Beijing over national security, he told Bloomberg News in an interview this month.

The government drafted legislation in 2023 to bar Chinese students from university programs that concern sensitive technologies including semiconductors and defense, but it has not been voted on yet.

The new education minister has given mixed signals on the bill.

“We do not have the luxury to be naive any longer,” Minister Eppo Bruins said in an interview in The Hague earlier this month. “At the same time we need a nuanced approach. There are many brilliant Chinese students.”

A professor at Eindhoven University who studies semiconductor technology said it has become increasingly difficult to recruit Chinese students to work on sensitive subjects.

Some Chinese students who were supposed to spend one year at a chip company after completing their exchange at the university were not allowed to work at the firms due to the government-imposed restrictions in recent years, the professor said, asking not to be named discussing sensitive matters.

Smits acknowledges some restrictions are already in place.

“I’m not saying that we will open the gate to Chinese students,” Smits said. “We are extremely careful there on who we give access to our top-notch sensitive technology.”

“We don’t want our crown jewels to be stolen,” he said.