Taiwan Current News (TCN), in partnership with the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), has launched a new podcast series, Taiwan Frontlines, to track global trends and explore how Taiwan connects with the world.To launch the series, Taiwan Frontlines invited renowned scholar Dr. Chris Miller, author of Chip War and a professor at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, to discuss the most pressing challenges facing the global chips industry and what they mean for Taiwan's semiconductor industry and the broader international landscape.A case that reached beyond one companyDr. Miller, in the podcast, pointed to the Nexperia case as a telling example of the risks embedded in today's chip industry. While much public attention remains focused on advanced semiconductors, he argued that seemingly mundane, foundational chips have become a strategic fault line, one where industrial dependence, government subsidies, and national security increasingly intersect.The Dutch government's intervention in Nexperia offers a concrete illustration of these dynamics. In 2023, the Dutch government took the rare step of intervening in the operations of Nexperia, a major semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in the Netherlands. Since an acquisition deal that started in 2018 and materialized in 2019, Nexperia has been owned by China's Wingtech Technology.The decision placed national security and supply-chain resilience at the center of Europe's semiconductor debate, which Dr. Miller delved into with the hosts of Taiwan Frontlines, drawing even more timely attention to the strategic importance of chips.Who is Nexperia?Nexperia is a global supplier of discrete semiconductors and power management chips used in automobiles, industrial equipment, data centers, and medical devices.While these components, referred to some as “Legacy chips” or “Building block semiconductors,” are not at the technological frontier of advanced logic or memory chips, they are ubiquitous across modern manufacturing.Nexperia traces its origins to Philips' semiconductor business and operates major production and R&D facilities in the Netherlands and Germany.In 2006, Philips spun off its semiconductor division under the name NXP and in 2017 Nexperia became an independent company, before being acquired by the Chinese company Wingtech Technology.The Dutch Government's interventionIn 2023, the Dutch government initiated a retroactive national security review of Nexperia's acquisition of Nowi, a startup specializing in energy-harvesting chips.However, contrary to initial strategic concerns, authorities concluded in late 2023 that Nowi's technology did not fall under military or dual-use classifications, thereby allowing Nexperia to retain its stake at the time.The situation escalated significantly in late 2025 when the Dutch government invoked the Goods Availability Act (GAA), a 1952 framework law that grants the government powers to secure the availability of essential goods during a national emergency, to intervene in Nexperia's internal governance.The Dutch government took control of Nexperia to prevent asset relocation, and to ensure critical chip supply for Europe. A Dutch court ordered the removal of Nexperia's CEO Zhang Xuezheng（張學政）who is also the founder of Wingtech Technology.As of January 2026, the dispute has entered a critical judicial phase: Wingtech has appealed the loss of its controlling rights of Nexperia to the Dutch Supreme Court.A hearing was scheduled for Jan 14, following months of dispute over technology transfer concerns.Why the Nexperia case mattersFor European governments, the Nexperia decision highlighted two vulnerabilities: Dependence on Chinese-owned suppliers for critical components, and reliance on Chinese demand that is no longer guaranteed.For more in-depth coverage, tune in to Taiwan Frontlines on the NOWNEWS official YouTube channel.