Rotterdam – The world feels like it’s speeding up and fracturing at the same time. One minute you’re scrolling through memes and music drops, the next you’re reading headlines about chip wars, sanctions, and Chinese warships ramming Filipino boats in the South China Sea. Somewhere in between, the Dutch government quietly takes control of a Chinese-owned chip firm in Nijmegen. And suddenly, the global tension feels a little closer to home.
But here in Rotterdam, the streets still hum with their own rhythm. You grab tjauw min from the corner takeaway, nod to your neighbor, hear Cantonese, Sranantongo, Dutch and Papiamentu blend into the city’s soundtrack. The Chinese community has been part of this city for over a century. They’re not new. They’re not foreign. They’re Rotterdam.
So what happens when geopolitics starts to mess with that sense of belonging? What do we do when the headlines start to cast shadows over the people we’ve lived beside, worked with, grown up with? This piece isn’t about taking sides. It’s about staying human. And remembering that no matter how wild the world gets, Rotterdam is still ours—together.
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🧠 Nexperia: When the State Steps In
Let’s start with the chip story. In early October, the Dutch government made a move that’s almost unheard of: it took control of Nexperia, a chip company based in Nijmegen that’s been owned by Chinese tech giant Wingtech since 2018. Not through a buyout, but through a legal intervention using the “Wet Beschikbaarheid van Goederen”—a law usually reserved for emergencies like food shortages or energy crises.
Why? Because Nexperia makes the kind of chips that keep everything running: cars, phones, medical gear, AI systems. And with Wingtech on the U.S. blacklist, there were fears that Dutch tech could end up in places it shouldn’t—like Chinese military systems or sanctioned supply chains.
So the Dutch state stepped in. Suspended Wingtech’s CEO. Took control of the company’s shares. And sent a message: we’re not playing around when it comes to tech sovereignty.
But here’s the thing—this wasn’t just about chips. It was about trust. About control. About who gets to own the future.
🌍 China’s Global Moves: From Taiwan to Tainan
To understand why this matters, you’ve got to zoom out. Way out.
Back in 1624, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied Taiwan—then called Formosa—and built Fort Zeelandia. They used Chinese labor, tried to convert locals, and ran sugar plantations. It was colonialism, plain and simple.
Fast forward to today, and China is flipping the script. It’s building influence not through war, but through infrastructure, tech, and diplomacy. In Venezuela, it’s funding hundreds of projects. In the Sahel, it’s mining lithium and uranium. In Ukraine, it’s quietly backing Russia while offering to help rebuild. And in the South China Sea, it’s claiming territory with warships and missile bases.
China’s not just rising—it’s reshaping the rules. And the West is scrambling to respond.
🏙️ Rotterdam’s Chinese Community: A Story in Layers
But while governments clash, people live. And Rotterdam’s Chinese community has been living here for over a hundred years.
- In 1911, Chinese seamen arrived in Katendrecht, often used as strikebreakers in the port. They built Europe’s first Chinatown.
- After WWII, Chinese Surinamese and Antilleans migrated here, bringing hybrid identities and deep cultural roots.
- In recent decades, new waves of students, entrepreneurs, and artists have added fresh layers—like Fenmei Hu, whose work at Cong’s Place and Space101 brings Chinese culture into the city’s creative heart.
- And then there’s the quiet majority: mixed families, second and third generations, people who speak Dutch fluently but still carry names, memories, and traditions that don’t fit neatly into any box.
This isn’t one community. It’s a mosaic. A living archive of migration, resilience, and reinvention.
🔐 When Geopolitics Meets Street Life
So what happens when the headlines start to blur the lines between people and politics?
When China’s global moves make some folks look sideways at their Chinese neighbors?
When a chip company’s ownership becomes a proxy for national security?
It’s easy to fall into suspicion. To start seeing people as extensions of governments. To forget that most of us are just trying to live, work, love, and make sense of the world.
But that’s dangerous. Because it turns humans into symbols. And symbols into targets.
Rotterdam doesn’t need that. Rotterdam knows better.
🧭 The Ethics of Technology and Belonging
Let’s be real: the tech world is messy. ASML, the Dutch company that makes the world’s most advanced chip machines, sells to Taiwan, not China—because of U.S. pressure. But China still buys older machines. And uses them to make chips for everything from phones to drones.
Some of those chips end up in military systems. Some in everyday devices. The line is blurry.
And that’s the point: technology isn’t neutral. It’s political. But people aren’t tech. They’re not chips. They’re not machines.
So while governments argue over who gets to control the future, we’ve got to remember who’s living in the present.
🏡 Rotterdam: City of Coexistence
Rotterdam has always been a city of layers. Of migration. Of rebuilding. After the war. After colonialism. After economic shifts.
It’s a city where you can find tjauw min next to kapsalon. Where mosques, temples, and churches share the skyline. Where people from Guangdong, Paramaribo, Curaçao, and Jakarta live on the same block.
It’s not perfect. But it’s real.
And in that reality, the Chinese community isn’t an outsider. It’s part of the DNA.
💬 So What Do We Do?
Nothing dramatic. No slogans. No campaigns.
Just this: we keep seeing each other. As neighbors. As colleagues. As classmates. As fellow Rotterdammers.
We stay curious. We ask questions. We listen.
We remember that behind every chip, every news story, every migration path, there’s a person. With a name. A story. A life.
And we hold onto that. Because in a world that’s trying to divide us, that’s the most radical thing we can do.
Dutch Echo 
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