The geopolitical irony that we are experiencing in the chip war has an unexpected beneficiary: Russia

The technological and trade war between the United States and China continues to open new fronts of debate. The last one, derived from the singular Nexperia situationis beginning to point to a future in which European decoupling from the Chinese chip industry may end up having an effect that is especially disturbing. Or dad, or mom. The strategic semiconductor sector has become the absolute focus of this trade war, and here Europe has traditionally been a security ally of Washington, but at the same time a key economic partner of Beijing. The problem is that the old continent has been forced to choose sides. US pressure for technological “decoupling”, coupled with concerns about national security, has forced the European Union to harden its stance towards Chinese investments and companies. Risk for Europe. This European effort to decouple its chip industry from China, far from shielding the continent’s security, could end up being counterproductive and self-destructive. With this decision, Europe would be assuming enormous economic and supply chain costs to align with Washington, putting at risk the future of its own industries, such as automotive or electronics, which are highly dependent on the Chinese market and production. The Nexperia case. The recent epicenter of this conflict is the aforementioned Nexperia case. In late September, the Dutch government invoked an old national security law to take effective control of Nexperia, a Dutch automotive chip company. That company is actually owned by the Chinese firm Wingtech, and the intervention marked a dangerous turning point, transforming China’s acquisition of technology from an economic issue to one of geopolitical security. Beijing’s revenge. The Chinese government did not sit idly by. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce banned the export of certain finished Nexperia components from China to Europe. Those reprisals They stopped the delivery of key partsthreatening to provoke a new chip crisis in Europe, and especially affecting to automakers in Germany and other countries that depend on that supply. Russia rubs its hands. If China’s chip industry is forced to operate under strict separation from European markets (decoupling), and Europe ceases to be a viable destination or supplier, China could find it easier to supply those chips to Russia, which desperately needs them for its weapons programs, especially in the wake of severe Western sanctions. Strategic irony. The situation is paradoxical. European “security” actions aimed at containing Chinese influence may end up resulting in a transfer of technological supply capacity to Russia. Thus they would inadvertently strengthen the war machine of what is Europe’s most immediate adversary in the Ukrainian conflict. History repeats itself. In reality, the curious thing is that it is suspected that all these events are part of a historical pattern. Europe is dragged into a conflict by the US (first Iraq, then Afghanistan, now this decoupling) only for Washington to withdraw or change focus later, leaving Europe alone to bear the impact of broken supply chains. It does not appear that there was much strategic thinking on the part of the EU and the Netherlands when making that controversial decision with Nexperia. USA also wins. This dynamic seems to further strengthen the leading role of Washington, which if it pushes Europe towards decoupling, not only restricts a rival (China) but also causes European countries to massively increase their defense spending. An expense that would obviously fall on the US military industry. a crossroads. Europe faces a colossal strategic problem. Its security depends on the US, its economy is closely linked to China, and at the same time it seeks its own autonomy. Restrictions on semiconductors put Europe at risk of sacrificing its own long-term economic prosperity in favor of a strategy that could be abandoned by its main ally. Long term consequences. If this trend that began with the Nexperia case is consolidated, European value chains dependent on Asia will be destroyed, in addition to an increase in inflation due to the cost of decoupling and a possible strengthening of relations between China and Russia. What is happening with Nexperia is no longer just a corporate dispute, but the symbol of an EU that is being governed without a clear vision of its own long-term interests. Image | Nexperia | Kremlin In Xataka | China is taking a giant step in its quest for technological self-sufficiency: its own EDA software

There is only a great beneficiary at Ryanair’s departure from regional airports. One called “High Speed ​​Train”

Ryanair threatened and fulfilled. As he turned a few months ago. The company confirmed yesterday, September 3, which removes more than one million places from regional airports. In total, its activity will be reduced by 41 % in this type of aerodromes and 10 % of its activity in the Canary Islands will also be affected. The movement has unleashed an wave of indignation among Spanish institutions that qualify the exit as blackmail or extortion. The company, meanwhile, defends itself by ensuring that the increase in Aena’s rates are incompatible with its operations in this type of airports. But what the movement leaves us is the confirmation that regional airports are less and less competitive. A good part of them have based their operations on a huge dependence on the company. And the Good train health It is making operating in them, more and more complicated. A good example is that the company will increase its operations in larger airports. The controversy As we explained yesterday, with its latest Ryanair movement it will reduce 400,000 places in the Canary Islands in winter, being the autonomous community most punished by volume. In total, 36 connections are canceled. It remains to be seen if the flights to the Canary Islands are held by other companies. A good example is the Binter expansion that in recent times it has begun to increase its routes in the connections between peninsular Spain and the islands. In addition, Ryanair has announced the closure of Santiago de Compostela and the suspension of all flights to Vigo as of January 1, 2026. It maintains the closure at the airports of Valladolid and Jerez de la Frontera. And will reduce its operations in Zaragoza (-45 %), Santander (-38 %), Asturias (-16 %) and Vitoria (-2 %). The company attacks Aena and the Government, to whom it accuses of “failing to the Spanish regions, whose airports are almost 70 % empty.” For its part, the airport manager attacks that “the communication and institutional relations policy of Ryanair is guided by Phariseism, bad education and blackmail”, while trying to “falsify reality.” All these words pick them up eldiario.es from the mouth of Maurici Lucena, president and CEO of Aena. The excuse Ryanair has used to abandon or reduce its operations at these airports is at the rise of Aena rates. Those rates are the ones guarantee basic services of airports such as cleaning or safety, to put only some examples. At the moment, there are substantial discounts than in airports with the lowest volume of passengers make them insignificant. On the contrary, where it is paid the most is in the airports of greater volume. That rate has been frozen in recent years but will rise if the CNMC approves it. From the beginning, the company’s opposition has been found. They defend that in countries such as Italy, Morocco or Croatia have been lowered to attract tourism and that, with these increases, “Spain is closing” to the same. A statement that The data denies. According to Aena, The increase is just 68 euro cents By passenger but they put the company that their rates have increased by 21% in the last year. But this is just the surface. Spain is not the only country in which Ryanair has reduced operations. The Irish have also retired more than 700,000 places from the French regional airports. And it is also not accidental that their operations to Morocco travel almost empty. For a long time, the company has exploited institutional advertising to maintain open paths that would not be profitable without these substantial pluses. In fact, that Ryanair trip to Daklha is only explained since The interest that Morocco has in exploiting that areanear the Sahara, as a holiday destination. Ryanair as a symptom And the train as a disease that hurts regional airports. To all of the above we must add the loss in competitiveness of many of the airports of which Ryanair leaves. The company has closed operations in Santiago and reduces its connections in Vigo. Casually there are two cities to which The arrival of high speed is especially affecting. Until not so long ago, the only way to travel quickly between Madrid and Galicia was by plane. Now, the High speed It allows you to reach the center of the capital more or less the same time as you travel by plane. And without the discomforts of this means of transport. In Asturiashigh speed is not yet working in full performance but the opening of new sections (and others on the horizon)place the region in a position where the train, again, will compete with the plane for faster connections. It will remain faster to travel by plane but its connection with Madrid is already competitive by train. What to say about Zaragoza where in recent years Renfe has joined Ouigo and Iroyo. The corridor maintains a hard competition And although the tickets are not the cheapest on the market, the volume of trains is very high and the latest connections already allow Zaragoza to be linked with Galicia in four hours (making transford in Madrid). In addition, the possibilities to get to Seville or Malaga are multiple with the aforementioned Renfe rivals. Eliminate air connections with the main Spanish cities should result in greater use of this means of transport. And from Aena they are clear that reality is “more prosaic.” “Ryanair moves her planes to airports where can set higher prices In their plane tickets and earn more money, such as Great Spanish airports“, despite being” substantially higher, “they insisted on words collected by RTVE. In Santander, where connections with Madrid are not so advanced, four international destinations have been withdrawn (Rome, Milan, Vienna and Paris) but the flights to Valencia and Malaga are maintained. In Santiago, however, connections with other Spanish cities die. And in Vigo he retires from the line he had with London. Casually when the contract ends Between the City Council and the company … Read more

Ryanair is abandoning small airports in France. There is an unexpected beneficiary: a Spanish airline

France is the queen of world tourism. Spain is close, but the neighboring country moved In 2024 almost 90 million visitors. A good part of them depend on the plane to arrive, and the problem is that they will soon pay more money to leave. The reason? A “solidarity tax”. And Ryanair has not been funny. So little that will leave some routes in winter. On the other side of the door, ready to collect the witness, was a Spanish airline. Volotea. Taxes. The trigger is the TSBA. This is the abbreviation of ‘Taxe de Solidarité Sur Les Billets d’Avion’, a tax applied in France to the tickets. It is the French authorities that set the amount of tax with the aim of financing international aid programs or to promote ecological measures. A few months ago, that tax experienced an increase of 180% and, although It depends on the flightdistance and plane, in a Economic flight Within France or Europe, the rate went from 2.66 euros to 9.5 euros. Other countries have other rates and in Spain, for example, there is one that applies to the use of infrastructure, security, shipping and other services that will rise about 68 cents per passenger as of March 1, 2026. It is a 6.5%rise, much lower than French. But well, as we say, Italy, Germany or Netherlands also have their rates. Leave. Ryanair comes into play here. The airline, the largest in Europe by fleet, considers that they are excessive and threatened to state that the increase will make many routes unfeasible. In a nutshell: trips to regional airports to small and medium -sized cities will not be so profitable by reducing the margins of these Airlines ‘Low Cost’ and, therefore, it would cease to make sense to keep them. And so it has been. As we read in Radar TravelRyanair will completely retire from Strasbourg, Brive-La-Gaillarde and Bergerac airports from this winter. In total, it will cut 25 routes and 750,000 seats on those dates, reducing its operations in France by 13%. Proper names. The consequences are devastating for the affected cities: Brive loses routes such as London-Stansted. Strasbourg loses links with Porto and Agadir. Bergerac will lose 33% of the activity, which can even touch the airport. They are the most affected, but other larger airports such as those of Toulouse, Marseille or Beauvais in Paris will also have activity cuts. “Unless the government eliminates this unfair air tax, Ryanair’s capacity and investment in France will inevitably redirect to more competitive European markets such as Sweden, Hungary or part of Italy, where governments are eliminating air taxes to stimulate traffic, tourism, employment and economic recovery,” Comment The CCO of Ryanair, Jason McGuinness. Volotea. This decision has resonated at the Volotea offices, a low -cost Spanish airline that bases its business on connecting small and medium -sized cities in Europe. They are those that do not usually cover the big companies, with 420 Routes in 2025reaching up to 100 cities in 18 European countries. Two names that we have already commented and that covers volotea are those of Marseille and Toulouse. And, how we read in Hosteltur And that Volotea itself collects in its press section, the withdrawal of Ryanair leaves room for the Spanish to stay with the connections of Strasbourg with Agadir (Morocco) and Porto, with the intention of creating 70 jobs to operate. “I don’t want money”. Thus, from this new pulse of Ryanair to the authorities of a country, the Spanish company benefits. And it is a sum and continues in a particular battle that Ryanair undertakes when the margins are at stake, such as when the controversial CEO of the company, Michael O’Learyconfirmed that aspires that passengers fly without suitcaseseven when of the 13,400 million euros that entered 2024, 4,299 million come from Extras how to fly with a cabin suitcase or choose a seat. Images | CJP24 In Xataka | The great secret of Ryanair’s success is that he does not earn money to fly: he does so squeezing you in everything else

China probes revenge from the United States closing its doors to Hollywood. And Europe could be the great beneficiary

China is valuing to prohibit the distribution of American films In response to Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional 50% tariffs About Chinese products. Or that follows, since the original source is a Chinese journalist linked to the Communist Party. A Insider that releases the probe balloons. This measure is part of a retaliation package that would also include blockages to the importation of agricultural and poultry products in the United States. Why is it important. The Chinese government has described Trump’s strategy as “blackmail” and He said that “will fight until the end,” according to the Ministry of Commerce in an official statement. “The Chinese do not look for problems, but they don’t fear them,” added the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Jian. In figures. American films generated 585 million dollars in China for 2024approximately 3.5% of the 17,710 million dollars of total collection in the Chinese film market. If the veto materializes, next blockbusters like ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth‘,’The accountant 2‘And the next installment of’Impossible mission‘They could leave a lot of money at the box office. The threat. The confrontation has intensified after Trump’s announcement of an additional 50% tariff if China did not withdraw the 34% of US products. If this dynamic is maintained, total tariffs on Chinese products could reach 104%: Current tariffs: 20% (previous taxes). New tariffs: 34% (announced last week). Extra threat: 50% (if China does not withdraw its measures). Between bambalins. Dan Wang, a specialist in China in Eurasia Group, points out that when tariffs exceed 35%, Chinese exporters lose all profitability in the US market. “After that point, China should not export to the United States at all. Europe is and will be the most profitable market for China now,” Wang explains in statements collected by Daily Mail. To a scrambled river … Outstanding image | Jurassic World, Xataka with Mockuuuups Studio In Xataka | The highest blockbuster movie in history does not come from Hollywood, but from China, and now you can see it in Prime Video

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