China has published the names of six people it claims are Dutch spies as the fall-out continues over the Netherlands’ takeover of chip producer Nexperia.

The names and photographs of six agents were included in an article on a Chinese-language website based in Hungary, which described a visit by agents from Taiwan to Amsterdam.

According to De Volkskrant, the website claimed the six Dutch agents had travelled to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, in November to try to recruit Chinese experts in chip technology.

Sense Hofstede, an expert in Chinese foreign policy, told the newspaper that the article appeared to have been placed by the government in Beijing in November 29, possibly to “send out a strong signal to the Netherlands”.

“When I found the original source, I noticed straight away that not just Taiwanese agents, but also Dutch ones were named. That is unusual,” he said.

Intelligence agency AIVD said it had “taken note of the article”, but would not discuss its agents’ activities as a matter of policy. It is unclear if the Netherlands has taken any diplomatic steps.

Intellectual property

In September, caretaker economic affairs minister Vincent Karremans triggered a diplomatic row when he placed Nexperia, which is based in Nijmegen but owned by Chinese company Wingtech, under state supervision.

The Dutch government said it had seen intelligence showing the Chinese owner intended to move the company’s intellectual property from Nijmegen to China, which it said would have major consequences for the European economy.

Beijing reacted angrily and swiftly imposed an export ban on chips produced by Nexperia in China. The move left European carmakers uncertain about supplies for weeks.

At a seminar in Singapore in May, defence minister Ruben Brekelmans claimed that China was stepping up espionage on Dutch semiconductor technology.

Brekelmans said he was concerned about Europe’s dependence on China for critical raw materials, saying Beijing was “using their economic position for geopolitical purposes”.

“Both on the European Union level, but also on the national level, we need to make bigger steps in order to reduce those dependencies,” he said.