Chip Company Plotted to Send Technology to China, Ex-C.E.O. Says

In 2019, when Chinese company Wingtech acquired Dutch chipmaker Nexperia, Wingtech's controlling shareholder, Zhang Xuezheng, immediately planned to transfer Nexperia's research and technology to China. According to Nexperia's former CEO, Frans Scheper, Dutch officials were aware of these plans from the beginning. Scheper alerted officials to the importance of Nexperia's knowledge centers in the Netherlands, Germany, and Britain. The Dutch government seized Nexperia in September 2025 due to concerns that Wingtech, partially backed by Chinese government funds, would move key technology out of Europe. The situation highlights the national security concerns arising from Chinese acquisitions of foreign tech companies and the geopolitical struggle for control of critical technology. Scheper also stated that Zhang pressured him into early retirement in 2020, after which Zhang took over as CEO.