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I bet they're after extreme ultraviolet lithography, which is a strategically-important-in-the-US-China-rivalry technology that the Dutch commercialized.

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It doesn't say explicitly, but it does say that it's the "semiconductor industry".

"The semiconductor industry, which we are technologically leading, or technology advanced, of course, to get that intellectual property - that's interesting to China," Brekelmans said in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore.

Last week:

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/euv-lithography-restrictions-china-must-continue-trump-aide-says-2025-05-23/

EUV lithography restrictions on China must continue, Trump aide says

May 23 (Reuters) - Restricting the sale of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment to China is the "single most important export control" the United States has in the area of semiconductors, the White House's AI and crypto czar David Sacks said on Friday.

"The first Trump administration began the restriction, and it’s of paramount importance that it continues," Sacks wrote on X.

Dutch company ASML (ASML.AS) makes EUV chipmaking machines, which produce the most sophisticated semiconductors.

Two months ago:

https://www.reuters.com/world/china-hopes-netherlands-will-ensure-normal-lithography-machine-trade-2024-03-28/

China hopes Netherlands will ensure 'normal' lithography machine trade

BEIJING, March 28 (Reuters) - China hopes the Netherlands would support companies in fulfilling their contractual obligations and ensure "normal" trade of lithography machines, said Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.

Last month:

https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/china-developed-euv-lithography-could-trial-in-2025/

Chinese electronics giant Huawei is testing elements for an extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machine at its Dongguan facility, according to two sources posting photographs on X social media.

The sources say the equipment is scheduled for trial production of circuits in 2Q25 with full-scale manufacturing in 2026, without attributing the information to any sources of their own. They add that the equipment is based on a laser discharge induced plasma (LDP) to produce light of 13.5nm wavelength.

The credibility of the timetable therefore remains uncertain although China is highly motivated to try and develop EUV lithography.

China has been denied access to the EUV lithography equipment from the monopoly commercial supplier, ASML Holding NV, for several years.

As if industrial espionage had never happened before.

Honestly IP as in "secret technology" is harmful for the humanity.

And in general all this understanding of civilization as, instead of duplicating everything, anarchy and competition, having some single benevolent owner of any part of it - stinks. Like - state of the art lithography is owned by ASML, and state of the art fabs are owned by TSMC, and computing is owned by a few companies we all know each a monopolist in its own layer or few, and as if everything should have a boss pretending to be nice and civilized.

Stinks just as bad as mercantilism, state capitalism, Soviet idea of meritocracy (more bootlicking - more merit), yadda-yadda. It's part of life that someone can capture the playing field wholesale, but that even in "nice" democratic EU countries like Netherlands the reliance upon modern versions of the Sound Toll is treated as normal just means that we need a new round of everything, the Hanseatic-Danish wars, the French revolution, everything.

Humans have built for themselves a great generalizer, the electronic computer. So now the limited solutions of the problems of the past will have to be generalized for this bright new future as well. And when they do, I personally hope countries like Netherlands, among others, will not be left under the rubble.

All imperial countries like china spy on each other