The relationship between the Netherlands and Taiwan dates back to the 1600s, when the former was a global maritime power. The Dutch East India Co had established itself in present-day Anping (安平) in Tainan, with the intention of pursuing a dual objective.
First, the Netherlands aimed to use Formosa as a strategic base for trade, establishing secure routes for silk and other materials. Second, the more ambitious goal was to consolidate its maritime and commercial strength to compete as equals with the main rivals of the time, Portugal and Spain.
The Dutch presence also left its mark on the religious landscape, fostering an interaction that still survives today. Christianity gradually took hold in Formosa thanks to the intense work of missionaries who learned local languages to impart teachings from the sacred texts.
Dutch rule in Formosa ended in 1662 with the conquest of the island’s southwest by the Ming Dynasty — which has no connection to the Chinese Communist Party governing the People’s Republic of China.
Followed by the Qing Dynasty and Japanese colonial rule in Formosa, ties between the Netherlands and Taiwan were scarce, with the Dutch primarily focusing their attention on areas east of the Asian continent. After World War II, with Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) arrival in Taiwan, relations between the Netherlands and Taiwan became largely insignificant.
A new impetus for ties between the two nations came with Taiwan’s emergence as a global technology hub, coinciding with a process of democratic rebirth that culminated in the end of martial law and the holding of the first presidential elections in 1996.
The combination of a vibrant democratic life and economic success helped solidify, in the minds of Western actors, Taiwan’s recognition as a serious and credible partner with whom to tackle the challenges of the modern era.
One sector where the parties are expanding their ties is semiconductors. An emblematic example of this reality is the relationship between the Netherlands’ Advanced Semiconductor Materials Lithography (ASML) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), a global leader in semiconductor manufacturing.
The collaboration between these two companies represents a symbiotic relationship that underpins the entire modern electronics industry. Each one plays a fundamental role in determining the other’s success within a mutually beneficial dynamic that yields two tangible results: innovation and global technological advancement.
ASML’s near-monopoly of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines enables TSMC to create smaller and more efficient chips for use in smartphones, computers and artificial intelligence tools. Through its substantial investments in research and development, ASML is capable of continuously providing improved machines with which TSMC can work to produce increasingly cutting-edge semiconductors.
Conversely, TSMC’s importance to ASML manifests in two main forms: economic and strategic. The Taiwanese company is the primary customer for the machines produced by ASML, guaranteeing very high revenues for ASML’s coffers, with individual EUV machines costing hundreds of millions of US dollars each, and TSMC being a consistently major buyer.
Strategically, the fact that TSMC invests so frequently and confidently in the Dutch company’s machines serves as a “guarantee of success” and “reliability” that encourages other entities to invest in them.
The result is a mutually beneficial relationship that not only holds strategic value for the parties, but also critical and crucial value for both.
As evidence of the strategic value and depth of bilateral relations between the two countries, the alliance extends from the economic sphere to shared values. The Dutch parliament has, in the past few years, approved resolutions supporting the need to preserve the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and to strengthen ties with the Asian nation.
Within the EU, the Netherlands is a reliable and earnest partner that shares Taiwan’s interests and looks to the future with the same objectives.
Relations between the two nations are set to become increasingly prosperous, based on a common conviction: Shared intentions and perspectives make the two countries natural allies committed to collaboratively addressing present challenges.
Michele Maresca is an analyst at Il Caffe Geopolitico, an online international law journal, and the think tank Geopol21.
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