Chinese leader Xi Jinping tells Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during their meeting in Beijing that efforts to limit China's access to technology won't stop the nation's progress, as reported by AP News.
"The Chinese people also have the right to legitimate development, and no force can stop the pace of China's scientific and technological development and progress."
Why Netherlands Restricted China's Access to Technology
This discussion came while the Netherlands was establishing rules to control the sale of machines needed to make high-tech computer chips, which the U.S. had already done. Xi warned that if countries block each other from acquiring important technology, it could cause disagreements and conflict.
The meeting also happened as ASML, a Dutch company making computer chips, worried about immigration policies affecting its work.
In response, China rejected U.S. claims of preventing its tech progress, with Xi pushing for more innovation within China. In fact, recently, VCPost reported that China accused the Biden administration of 'discrimination' for the same restriction, but in electric vehicles. Prior to this statement, China already urged the U.S. to lift its restrictions on Chinese companies.
"China always opposes the U.S. overstretching the concept of national security and making various excuses to coerce other countries into imposing a technological blockade against China," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said earlier this year.
Besides talking about export restrictions, Rutte, without sharing exact details of the conversation, also discussed with Chinese leader Xi Jinping the importance of bringing forth the Ukraine conflict in national summits.
Unfortunately, there has been no discussion about NATO's actions in Asia, despite Rutte being a candidate to lead it, which China criticized for making tensions worse in the region.
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