Chinese staff at Nexperia have been told to ignore instructions from the group’s Netherlands head office after the Dutch government seized control of the company.

In a letter posted on social media platform WeChat, Nexperia China said all employees at the semiconductor giant had the “right to refuse” orders from leaders at the Nijmegen HQ without facing any disciplinary consequences in a rebellion against Dutch government control.

The move comes after The Hague removed Nexperia’s Chinese leadership and took control of the company last week because of national security concerns.

In its letter, Nexperia China said: “For any external instructions not authorised by the legal representative of Nexperia’s domestic company – even if transmitted via Outlook, Teams, etc – everyone has the right to refuse to carry them out without this constituting a breach of work discipline or legal provisions.”

The Netherlands was forced to act after pressure from Washington, which had threatened to impose export controls on the company if Zhang Xuezheng, Nexperia’s chief executive, remained in post.

The letter added that staff “should continue to follow instructions from Nexperia China” while warning that company management “will not allow external forces to influence operations or harm employee interests”.

It highlights mounting tensions between The Hague and Beijing over the seizure of the chipmaker.

Nexperia is one of the biggest semiconductor groups in the world and a major supplier of low-tech chips used in consumer electronics. It has factories across Europe, including in Stockport, Greater Manchester.

Mr Zhang, who is also chairman of Nexperia’s owner Wingtech, was ousted from his post on Tuesday Oct 14 and replaced by Stefan Tilger, the company’s financial chief.

The Dutch government said “serious managerial shortcomings” meant Nexperia’s operations in Europe were being “compromised in an unacceptable manner”.

“This situation raised broader concerns for the Dutch government about the availability of semiconductor products critical to the European industry,” it said.

Wingtech was last year placed on Washington’s tech blacklist over claims it had aided Chinese government efforts to “acquire entities with sensitive semiconductor manufacturing capability”.

Wingtech, which is part-owned by the Chinese government, acquired Nexperia for $3.63bn (£2.7bn) in 2018.

The chipmaker was first formed as an independent company in 2006 after being spun out of Dutch conglomerate Philips.

In 2023, the British government ordered Nexperia to sell its factory in Newport in Wales, citing national security concerns.