Chinese students hoping to study advanced technology at universities abroad may soon have their dreams quashed by new legislation that limits their access to degree programs and research opportunities.
As Bloomberg reports, “people with knowledge of the matter” claim the Dutch government is currently working on new laws that ban students from certain Asian nations from joining university programs on “sensitive technologies,” like the study of semiconductors or defense.
The Netherlands is home to Dutch photolithography machine maker ASML Holding NV, which manufactures the most advanced chip-making machines in the world. The Dutch government has already agreed to restrict exports of such equipment to China, but now it’s looking to go a step further and bar certain students it deems a risk attending its learning institutes.
A statement received by Bloomberg from the Dutch Ministry of Education confirms mandatory screening is planned for students and researchers looking to study “sensitive subject areas.” The statement did, however, make it clear that the screening is “country-neutral.”
Even so, the US-led sanctions adopted by the Dutch government suggest any Chinese students applying to study a sensitive subject are likely to fail the screening process if and when it becomes law. Those sanctions have already started to limit the talent pool Chinese companies have access to; memory maker YMTC asked all American employees to leave the company last year.
A report published in April by the General Intelligence and Security Service agency concluded that China “poses the greatest threat to the Dutch economic security.” The report also points out that cooperation with China is difficult because “the country often conceals that the Chinese government or the Chinese army may be involved in such cooperation in the background.”
The Chinese government recently banned Micron chips claiming they pose a risk to national security. It was a move widely viewed as a response to the US sanctions. If this mandatory screening of students goes ahead and is seen to largely impact Chinese students, Beijing may decide to take some form of reciprocal action against the Netherlands.
