Dutch Premier pokes China while praising ‘century of America’

THE NETHERLANDS - Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte poured cold water on China’s rise and sided squarely with the US in an op-ed that highlighted the deteriorating ties between Europe and Beijing.

“I cannot see how this will be China’s century,” Mr Rutte said in the article for Dutch newspaper NRC published on Monday. “The 21st century will be the century of democracy and thus the century of America.” 

Mr Rutte’s remarks come days after his visit to Ukraine, and add to the sense that the US and its European allies are losing patience with China over its closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the weekend that the United States has information that China is considering providing Russia with lethal aid such as weapons and ammunition. Beijing is pushing its own peace plan for the conflict, and accuses the West of “fueling the fire” by supplying weapons to Kyiv. 

“It is extremely important that we in the Netherlands and Europe appreciate the great role of the US,” Mr Rutte said, adding that Europe needs to step up its defence spending as the war in Ukraine shows the era of relying on Washington is over.

Mr Rutte’s article places the Netherlands at Washington’s side in its increasingly tense stand-off with China. The Netherlands – home to chip machine giant ASML Holding – has

agreed to join the US effort

to further restrict exports of chip technology to China. Last week,

ASML accused a former China-based employee of stealing confidential information,

the second such breach in less than a year. 

Mr Rutte said the Netherlands understands very well that the war in Ukraine “is also about our own future”. 

“If we let Putin have his way, we can seriously doubt whether he will stop at Ukraine,” Mr Rutte said. BLOOMBERG