Latest news with #Brekelmans
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Business
- Time of India
Chinese spying on Dutch industries 'intensifying': Dutch defence minister
Chinese efforts to spy on the Dutch are intensifying, with the focus on semiconductors, Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Saturday. "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. The Dutch military intelligence agency said in its annual report in April last year that Chinese spies have targeted the Dutch semiconductor, aerospace and maritime industries to try to strengthen China's armed forces. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Ben Thanh: Beautiful New Senior Apartments with Two Bedrooms Senior Apartments | Search Ads Search Now Undo When asked if the spying had stopped, Brekelmans said: "It's continuing. In our newest intelligence reports, our intelligence agency said that the biggest cyber threat is coming from China, and that we do see most cyber activity when it comes to us being as from China. That was the case last year, but that's still the case. So we only see this intensifying." China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing routinely denies allegations of cyber espionage and says it opposes all forms of cyberattack. Live Events Dutch intelligence agencies first publicly attributed cyber espionage to China last year, when they said state-backed cyber spies had gained access to a Dutch military network in 2023. Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Brekelmans said security is becoming increasingly important for the Netherlands as China is "using their economic position for geopolitical purposes and also to pressure us". The minister said the Netherlands has introduced instruments to protect key industries and vital interests but the country and region also need to reduce their dependency on China for critical raw materials. "Both on the European Union level, but also on the national level, we need to make bigger steps in order to reduce those dependencies."
Yomiuri Shimbun
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Chinese Spying on Dutch Industries ‘Intensifying': Dutch Defence Minister
Terje Pedersen via REUTERS Dutch Minister of Defense Ruben Brekelmans attends a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Oslo, Norway May 9, 2025. SINGAPORE, May 31 (Reuters) – Chinese efforts to spy on the Dutch are intensifying, with the focus on semiconductors, Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans said on Saturday. '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. The Dutch military intelligence agency said in its annual report in April last year that Chinese spies have targeted the Dutch semiconductor, aerospace and maritime industries to try to strengthen China's armed forces. When asked if the spying had stopped, Brekelmans said: 'It's continuing. In our newest intelligence reports, our intelligence agency said that the biggest cyber threat is coming from China, and that we do see most cyber activity when it comes to us being as from China. That was the case last year, but that's still the case. So we only see this intensifying.' China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beijing routinely denies allegations of cyber espionage and says it opposes all forms of cyberattack. Dutch intelligence agencies first publicly attributed cyber espionage to China last year, when they said state-backed cyber spies had gained access to a Dutch military network in 2023. Brekelmans said security is becoming increasingly important for the Netherlands as China is 'using their economic position for geopolitical purposes and also to pressure us'. The minister said the Netherlands has introduced instruments to protect key industries and vital interests but the country and region also need to reduce their dependency on China for critical raw materials. 'Both on the European Union level, but also on the national level, we need to make bigger steps in order to reduce those dependencies.'
Epoch Times
19 hours ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
Dutch Defense Minister Warns of Escalating Chinese Spy Operations
Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans warned Saturday that Chinese cyber espionage targeting the Netherlands is intensifying, with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) particularly focused on stealing advanced semiconductor technology. 'The semiconductor industry, which we are technologically leading—or technology advanced, of course—to get that intellectual property, that's interesting to China,' Brekelmans told Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore on May 30.
News18
a day ago
- Business
- News18
Netherlands Accuses China Of Spying On Dutch Semiconductor Industry
Last Updated: While China has yet to respond to the claims, it has always denied allegations of cyber espionage and said it opposes all forms of cyberattack. Dutch Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans stated on Saturday that China is intensifying its espionage efforts against the Netherlands, particularly targeting the semiconductor industry. 'The semiconductor industry, in which we are technologically leading, or technologically advanced, is of course, a target for intellectual property theft – that's of interest to China," Brekelmans said in an interview on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security meeting in Singapore. Earlier this year, in April, Dutch military intelligence accused China of spying on the semiconductor, aerospace, and maritime industries to bolster its armed forces. When asked whether Beijing had ceased its espionage activities, Brekelmans cited Dutch intelligence agency reports and said, 'It's continuing. In our newest intelligence reports, our intelligence agency stated that the biggest cyber threat is coming from China, and that we see that most cyber activity targeting us originates from China. That was the case last year, and it remains the case. We are observing an intensification of this activity." While China has not yet responded to these specific claims, it has consistently denied allegations of cyber espionage and stated its opposition to all forms of cyberattack. Dutch agencies first reported Chinese espionage in 2023, claiming that state-backed cyber spies had infiltrated a Dutch military network that year. Brekelmans explained that security is becoming increasingly important for the Netherlands as China is 'using their economic position for geopolitical purposes and also to pressure us". The minister stated that while the Netherlands has implemented measures to protect key industries and vital national interests, both the country and the wider region must also work to lessen their dependence on China for critical raw materials. 'Both at the European Union level and at the national level, we need to take more significant steps to reduce those dependencies," he said. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from geopolitics to diplomacy and global trends. Stay informed with the latest world news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! First Published: May 31, 2025, 20:20 IST
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Dutch NATO math portends uphill battle for Europe on defense spending
PARIS — The Netherlands worked out the costs of meeting NATO's new capability targets, providing a taste of the billion-euro budget challenge European members of the alliance face to boost their military posture in the face of a more aggressive Russia. The Dutch calculate that meeting their share of the targets will cost at least €16 billion to €19 billion ($18 billion-$21 billion) a year on top of the existing defense budget, Defence Minister Ruben Brekelmans told parliament in a letter last week. That would amount to about 3.5% of GDP, from 2% now – conveniently also the core defense spending target that NATO leadership is calling for. NATO's Capability Targets 2025, to be formally set at a summit in The Hague in June, will significantly increase the requirements compared to previous targets, according to the Dutch. The CT25 focus will be on ground-based air and missile defense, ground-based fire support, land maneuver units and joint enablers, Brekelmans said. For the larger economies of Germany, France and the U.K., meeting the new targets means 'we're no longer talking about a few billion extra per year, but tens of billions,' said Dick Zandee, senior research fellow at Dutch think tank Clingendael Institute and former head of planning at the European Defence Agency. The three countries have the biggest defense budgets of European NATO members, spending a little over 2% of GDP on their military. The Netherlands is Europe's sixth-biggest spender, lifting its 2025 defense budget to €22 billion euros from €21.4 billion last year. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded NATO countries increase military spending to 5% of GDP, threatening to pull out of the alliance if members don't pay up. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said this week he expects alliance members to agree to a 5% spending target in The Hague, with a proposal for 3.5% of GDP for direct military spending and another 1.5% for related spending such as infrastructure and cybersecurity. The Netherlands also estimates meeting the new NATO capability targets will require 17,000 to 18,000 more personnel. While the 32-nation alliance typically keeps the capability targets secret, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Adm. Pierre Vandier said in March the alliance will ask members to raise military capability targets by 30% – even with allies already 30% behind on delivering on existing goals. The Dutch say the NATO 'standard path' to fully meet the capability targets has been 19 years, but current threats make a faster build-up necessary, and NATO expects 'a significant part will already be built up in the coming years.' Brekelmans says around €9 billion to €10 billion of the calculated costs and 8,500 to 9,000 of the personnel count are attributable to the Netherlands not yet having fully met NATO's 2021 capability targets. While NATO defense planning is based on the principle that all the capabilities are realized, 'in practice of course, that is never achieved,' Zandee said. Neighboring Germany and Belgium have similar issues as the Netherlands of having to play catch up with the 2021 targets, with personnel shortages partially explaining the shortcomings, he said. 'All countries are coming out of roughly two decades of severe budget cuts, all countries to a varying degree donated to Ukraine, reducing stocks and supplies,' Zandee said. 'The Netherlands is not really in a unique position in this regard.' The calculations by Brekelmans exclude the costs of host nation support, with Dutch responsibility within the alliance for large-scale transfer of military equipment, as well as homeland defense and military activities outside the NATO treaty area, such as the Caribbean Netherlands. That means total defense costs would exceed 3.5% of GDP, according to Brekelmans. The Netherlands has typically been transparent about the costs of NATO targets, according to Zandee. Publishing the figures serves a political purpose in trying to muster broad parliamentary and coalition-government support for a bigger defense budget, a politically sensitive issue in the country, and gain popular support for more spending, he said. Spending 3.5% of GDP on core defense is achievable for a country like the Netherlands with healthy public finances, and also quite doable for Scandinavian countries, Zandee said. For countries in southern Europe with high debt levels 'it does become a big problem,' for example in France, where more defense spending will mean more borrowing. Italy, Spain and Belgium, among the NATO members that spend the least on defense relative to their economy, all have government debt to GDP ratios above 100%. Greece and France, the other European Union countries in NATO whose debt exceeds GDP, have historically been bigger military spenders. By contrast, the Netherlands had a debt to GDP ratio of 43.3% at the end of 2024, while for Germany the ratio was 62.5%. Zandee expects Germany under new Chancellor Friedrich Merz will agree to the 3.5% target, the British as loyal allies will commit despite 'major financial problems,' while the Netherlands will ultimately also go along. 'The problem mainly starts in Belgium and then further south,' Zandee said. 'The French will simply take the budgetary risk, because they are not going to back down. But the Italians and the Spanish in particular will have to perform some fancy maneuvering.' Some countries are already well on their way to meeting the NATO target. Estonia announced in April that it would increase defense spending to 5.4% of GDP already in 2026 and through to 2029, for an additional €2.8 billion of additional budget over four years, with the government saying spending would take into account the NATO capability targets. Meanwhile, Denmark said in February it will spend an additional 50 billion Danish kroner (US$7.6 billion) in 2025 and 2026 to strengthen its armed forces in the short term, also with a view to NATO demands and capability targets, lifting defense spending to above 3% of GDP. Poland is the only NATO country that has already met the new target, spending 4.1% of GDP on defense in 2024, for total spending of around $35 billion. Some countries may agree to 3.5% of core defense spending in The Hague with no intention of ever reaching the target, to keep NATO alive, even if they won't say so publicly, Zandee said. He said the same happened with the 2% spending target agreed in Wales in 2014. 'When it comes to the survival of the alliance and keeping the Americans in, I think even those countries will simply agree to it,' Zandee said. 'That 3.5% is almost a done deal. If Trump can wave that one piece of paper and say, 'I've achieved all this,' then the NATO summit will have been a success, it's as simple as that.'
