Over concerns that Beijing might be stepping up espionage efforts against the island country, Taiwan’s government has proposed to tighten a law that prevents China from stealing its key technology.
Taiwan is home to a thriving and world-leading semiconductor industry, which is used in everything from fighter jets to cars. The government has long worried about Chinese efforts to copy that success, including through industrial espionage, poaching talent and other methods. Taiwan blames China for most cases of industrial espionage discovered in recent years.
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council therefore has proposed a revision of an existing law governing China relations that would require people getting government money for certain technology to seek permission before going to China.
For anyone breaching the law, there would be fines of up to T$10 million ($360,555).
The council did not specify what constitutes “national core technology” or how the government defines “certain subsidies” provided by them, saying it will seek help from the technology ministry and further amend the regulations.
According to a senior Taiwan government official familiar with the matter, the revision is meant to protect the island’s manufacturing technology for advanced chips, which industry experts say is generations ahead of China’s.
Taiwan’s parliament will pass the revisions.
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