The world of technology is splitting into Eastern and Western parts: Japan, Netherlands to limit export of chips' manufacturing equipment to China

"WASHINGTON -- Japan and the Netherlands have agreed with the U.S. to start restricting exports of advanced chip-manufacturing equipment to China, joining efforts by the Biden administration to slow China's military development by cutting access to advanced technologies.

The agreement was reached on Friday at a meeting in Washington between top national-security officials from the three countries, people familiar with the situation said.

Under the agreement, the Netherlands will bar ASML Holding NV, a Dutch maker of photolithography machines, from selling to China at least some immersion lithography machines, the most advanced kind of gear in its deep ultraviolet lithography line. The equipment is essential to making cutting-edge chips. Japan will set similar limits on Nikon Corp., one of the people familiar with the talks said.

The support of the Japanese and Netherlands governments is critical for the success of the U.S.'s export-control policy because of the importance of a small number of semiconductor-manufacturing equipment makers from the two countries, which include ASML, Nikon and Tokyo Electron Ltd." [2]

1. "How does immersion lithography work? In immersion lithography, light travels down through a system of lenses and then a pool of water before reaching the photoresist on top of the wafer. " 

2.  World News: Japan, Netherlands To Limit Equipment
Hayashi, Yuka.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]. 30 Jan 2023: A.9.