However, at the recent G7 summit, there was once again strong concern about growing dependence on China. Nijs does not deny the risk of dependency, but believes that it is up to Europe itself to limit it. In this regard, China itself is leading by example by starting its own aircraft manufacturer – Comac – so that it can do much more on its own. “Comac hasn’t built many planes yet, but they’re fine in themselves. For example, China itself has done something about its dependence on Boeing and Airbus. We should do it in Europe too’.
According to Nijs, this is not a deliberate and unilateral Chinese interruption of the supply of goods. ‘Now we are also ensuring that ASML will no longer produce some chip machines for China. Conversely, American microchips no longer enter China. But none of this happens in such a way that supermarket shelves are empty or that industries have run out of raw materials. I think it’s a bit of a diamond in the margins. If more than half of something comes from a certain country, you just have to see if there isn’t an alternative in Europe.’
Critical products
Research by the European Commission shows that in up to 6% of cases Europe depends on countries with more or less a market monopoly. Half of these cases are Chinese products. For example, with a world share of 90 percent, China is by far the largest producer of magnets and magnesium, and the country is also by far the largest player in polysilicon, which is essential for the production of solar panels. ‘
“We actually have a meaningless partnership with China”
Completely disconnecting from China is no longer an option, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also noted. But the development of alternatives even more. ‘That’s where the initiative to make Europe the largest battery producer in the world came from. This is what Von der Leyen means: if you are addicted to something, you all need to find a strategy to fix it. We’re already working very hard on that and we’ve come a long way with that process. I think it’s a shame we don’t read it very often.’
The Netherlands is only interesting as an EU country
For China, the Netherlands is only really interesting when it comes to the EU, says Nijs. “Rotterdam is also important to them, as a transit port to the rest of Europe. But the Netherlands itself has no strategic importance for the Chinese economy in terms of access to our raw materials or military tasks. You only count for China if you really have something they want too. China cannot afford to ignore the EU, but the Netherlands itself is not very strategically important.’
China maintains a kind of international relations ranking, where Russia is at the top, according to Nijs, and Japan hangs at the bottom. And we’re just above Japan. We actually have a meaningless bilateral partnership with China. Indeed, China invites the Netherlands to strengthen their friendship and to climb one step at a time in that ranking. But it hasn’t happened yet.’