JAKARTA China's spy efforts against the Netherlands are increasing, with a main focus on the semiconductor industry. This was said by the Dutch Defense Minister, Ruben Brekelmans, on Saturday, May 30.
"The semiconductor industry, which we technologically lead or already advanced, is certainly very attractive to China for obtaining its intellectual property," Brekelmans said in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore.
An annual report by Dutch military intelligence agencies released in April last year stated that Chinese spies had targeted the semiconductor, aerospace and maritime sectors of the Netherlands with the aim of strengthening China's military power.
When asked if the espionage activity had stopped, Brekelmans replied, "This is still ongoing. In our latest intelligence report, intelligence agencies said the biggest cyber threat came from China, and we did see most of our cyber activity coming from China. This has happened last year and is still continuing. We see the intensity is increasing."
China's foreign ministry has not yet responded to requests for comment. Beijing usually denies allegations of cyber espionage and claims to oppose any form of cyberattack.
SEE ALSO:
Dutch intelligence agencies for the first time publicly blamed China for cyber espionage last year when it revealed that Chinese state-backed spies managed to access the Dutch military network by 2023.
Brekelmans added that security is increasingly important to the Netherlands as China uses its economic position for geopolitical purposes and also puts pressure on us.
The minister said the Netherlands had introduced various measures to protect key industries and vital interests of the country, but the Netherlands and the region also needed to reduce dependence on China on essential raw materials.
"Both at the European Union and national level, we need to take bigger steps to reduce that dependence," Brekelmans said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
