ASML offered to spy for U.S. after breaking export ban to China in 2023, book claims

荷媒：在2023年违反对中国的出口禁令后，阿斯麦主动提出为美国当间谍

作者：nltimes.nl          来源：nltimes.nl

In 2023, ASML violated a “gentlemen’s agreement” with the United States concerning how many chip-making machines the company could sell to China, leading to anger among the Americans and embarrassment for the Dutch government. The company then offered to be the U.S.’s “eyes and ears” in China in an attempt to prevent further export restrictions, the Financieele Dagblad reported, based on the book De belangrijkste machine ter wereld by former Bloomberg journalists Diederik Baazil and Cagan Koc.

2023年，阿斯麦违反了与美国达成的一项“君子协议”，即该公司可以向中国出售多少台芯片制造机器，这引发了美国人的愤怒，也让荷兰政府感到尴尬。据《金融日报》（Financieele Dagblad）报道，该公司随后提出充当美国在中国的“耳目”，以防止进一步的出口限制。该报道基于前彭博社记者Diederik Baazil和Cagan Koc撰写的《De belangrijkste machine ter》一书。

图为装ASML极紫外（EUV）机器的集装箱装进飞机。

Citing anonymous sources, the authors of the book describe several conversations between the Netherlands, ASML, and the U.S. in recent years. One of these happened in November 2023, when it became clear that ASML had sold more machines to China than the U.S. had allowed.

该书作者引用匿名消息来源，描述了近年来荷兰、ASML和美国之间的几次对话。其中一次发生在2023年11月，当时很明显，ASML向中国出售的机器数量超过了美国允许的数量。

In that conversation between then-Prime Minister Mark Rutte and ASML CEO Peter Wennink, Rutte warned the CEO that he was venturing into dangerous territory by violating an agreement with the U.S. He made clear that the Dutch government felt misled by the Veldhoven-based company and “humiliated” in the eyes of its most important ally. According to Rutte, regaining American trust was not only one of the U.S. government’s demands, but also in ASML’s best interest.

在当时的首相马克·吕特和阿斯麦首席执行官彼得·温宁克的谈话中，吕特警告阿斯麦首席执行官，他违反了与美国的协议，正在冒险进入危险的领域。他明确表示，荷兰政府感到被这家总部位于维尔德霍文的公司误导了，并在其最重要的盟友眼中受到了“羞辱”。根据Rutte的说法，重新获得美国的信任不仅是美国政府的要求之一，也是ASML的最佳利益所在。

In January 2023, the Netherlands and the United States reached an agreement to further restrict the sale of ASML machines to China, intended to prevent China from gaining access to the most advanced chip-production equipment: EUV (extreme ultraviolet light) machines. Subsequently, the export of the less advanced DUV (deep ultraviolet light) machines to China was also prohibited.

2023年1月，荷兰和美国达成协议，进一步限制向中国出售ASML机器，旨在阻止中国获得最先进的芯片生产设备：EUV（极紫外光）机器。随后，较不先进的DUV（深紫外光）机器也被禁止出口到中国。

The ban was to take effect in September 2023 and be implemented fully from January 2024. For the intervening period, there was a gentlemen’s agreement that ASML was only allowed to ship a limited number of already contracted DUV machines to China and was banned from selling any new machines.

该禁令原定于2023年9月生效，2024年1月全面实施。在此期间，双方达成了一项君子协议，即ASML只被允许向中国运送数量有限的已签约DUV机器，并被禁止销售任何新机器。

However, during that period, ASML sold far more chip machines to China than agreed with the Americans, and the Americans were furious when they discovered this.

然而，在此期间，ASML向中国出售的芯片机器数量远远超过了与美国人达成的协议，美国人发现这一点后非常愤怒。

In the years that followed, the U.S. further increased pressure on ASML, demanding that the company stop servicing the machines it had sold to China. Wennink has been an outspoken critic of the Americans’ approach, arguing that excluding China would only lead to the country dedicating more energy to developing its own technology. But the U.S. disagreed with this reasoning and kept up the pressure.

在接下来的几年里，美国进一步加大了对阿斯麦的压力，要求该公司停止维修其出售给中国的机器。温尼克一直直言不讳地批评美国的做法，认为排除中国只会导致中国投入更多精力开发自己的技术。但美国不同意这种说法，并继续施压。

According to the book, Wennink then made the striking suggestion that, if ASML engineers were allowed to continue serving Chinese customers, the company could provide the U.S. with insight into what goes on behind the walls of Chinese chip factories. ASML engineers visit the sites of their machines on a regular basis, maintaining the machines and speaking with local employees. “ASML could be Washington’s eyes and ears in China,” a senior American official said in the book.

据书中所述，温宁克随后提出了一个惊人的建议，即如果允许阿斯麦工程师继续为中国客户服务，该公司可以让美国了解中国芯片工厂背后发生的事情。ASML的工程师会定期访问机器现场，维护机器并与当地员工交谈。“阿斯麦可以成为华盛顿在中国的耳目，”一位美国高级官员在书中说。

When asked, an ASML spokesperson said in the book that such an offer was never made. He called it an inaccurate portrayal of events.

当被问及这一问题时，阿斯麦公司的一位发言人在书中表示，从未提出过这样的要约。他称这是对事件的不准确描述。

Wennink and ASML declined to comment to FD. They also did not cooperate with the book.

Wennink和ASML拒绝对FD置评。他们也不配合这本书。

作者：nltimes.nl          来源：nltimes.nl