David Liu

🚨🇪🇺🇬🇧 State piracy: How Europe grabs companies it begged investors to save The Netherlands tried to steal Nexperia chipmaker from China's Wingtech. Now, the UK has nationalised British Steel, despite the fact that China’s Jingye Group poured billions into rescuing and modernising the company. Europe claims to welcome foreign investment, then punishes investors who keep struggling industries alive. Billions are spent maintaining factories, upgrading equipment, and protecting jobs, only for governments to step in and seize control when it suits them. 💩 British Steel heist In March 2020, China's Jingye Group acquired British Steel, a company on the brink of bankruptcy, for around $94 million. Jingye invested more than $1.6 billion in equipment upgrades, environmental retrofitting & operational maintenance. It saved thousands of British jobs and was praised at the time as a “white knight” that had rescued a vital national industry. Then, in April 2025, the UK government took operational control of British Steel. On 16 July 2026, it was brought into full public ownership. The government claimed the move would protect "vital" UK steelmaking capacity. The business was losing $940,000 a day. Jingye slammed the UK for "trampling on international investment rules" and "outright robbery", demanding compensation of around $1.34 billion under the China–UK Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement. The UK offered less than $670 million. The move "seriously infringed upon Jingye's legitimate rights, severely undermining the confidence of Chinese companies investing in the UK", China's Ministry of Commerce said. 🇳🇱Dutch chip grab In October 2025, the Netherlands seized control of Nexperia, a Dutch-based chipmaker owned by China's Wingtech Technology. The government cited "governance shortcomings" and the need to protect "national economic security". Wingtech had acquired a majority stake in 2019. The intervention allowed the Netherlands to block or reverse company decisions deemed "harmful to the interests of the company, its future as a Dutch and European enterprise". All of this happened without due process and without hearing Wingtech's position. 🇮🇹 Italian tyre theft Italy used its "golden power" legislation to curb the Chinese Sinochem's influence inside tyre manufacturer Pirelli. The government imposed safeguards on Pirelli's assets, effectively stripping the Chinese investor of control. Europe literally tells investors “Put your money into our industries today, and tomorrow we will seize your assets under the vague banner of “national security”. And forget about adequate compensation.” 🤡