Lawmakers are taking another step toward safeguarding technology in Amsterdam.
Some of them pushed for a new plan to screen international students before they can access doctoral degree programs at Dutch universities.
The country’s Education Minister said on Monday that international students funded by foreign state-run agencies like the Chinese Scholarship Council would be investigated. they are facing more curbs if they are applying for high technology degrees in the Netherlands.
Dutch high education in technology is an “attractive target” for espionage, and China is known for its attempts to acquire valuable technology outside its own borders.
According to the Dutch news agency Trouw, Chinese scholarship recipients must strictly obey the Chinese Communist Party’s orders, report to China’s embassy regularly while studying overseas, and must return to China after graduating.
As a result, some universities rejected Chinese Ph.D. applicants.
The Netherlands is home to ASML—one of the world’s leading producers of microchip-making gear.
Early in March, the Dutch government placed export restrictions on ASML’s microchip printing machines, blocking them from being sent to China. That’s including its most advanced tool—deep ultraviolet, or DUV, machines. ASML is the world’s only producer of these machines—which are key to producing the globe’s most advanced chips.