To better protect the nation's science and technology development, the government has drafted a law under which people would face criminal charges for divulging high-tech intelligence, National Science Council Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和) said yesterday.
Wei said the national science and technology protection bill has been drafted with reference to the US Economic Espionage Act and related laws of other developed countries.
The law would not only apply to the chip-making industry, but would also cover other areas, including the military, aeronautic engineering, computer software and biotechnology.
Wei said the council will further set up a regulatory system to govern high-tech talent from the private sector who plan to work in China, so as to prevent headhunting by Chinese companies and unauthorized Taiwanese businesses.
The council will specify the categories of high-tech talent to be subject to the control measure and will limit the number of people affected by it, so as to avoid any constitutional violations.
On Friday, Premier Yu Shyi-kun announced that the government would allow local chipmakers to transfer depreciated eight-inch wafer fabrication machinery to China on the condition that they meet certain requirements.
One of the requirements was that their 12-inch wafer fabrication plants have ramped up mass production.
Alongside the announcement, Yu promised that the government would work to protect Taiwan's high-tech intelligence to safeguard the nation's security and interests.
The decision to lift the ban was made after the Executive Yuan had obtained a nod from former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), who put forth the "no haste, be patient" policy to limit Taiwanese investment projects in China.
According to TSU lawmakers yesterday, the Executive Yuan, before making the announcement, had discussed the matter with party Chairman Huang Chu-wen (黃主文), who later reported it to Lee.
Lee is widely seen as the TSU's spiritual leader.
Though Lee thought the Executive Yuan's new policy was "acceptable," he requested that the Executive Yuan set a specific definition for "mass production," according to TSU lawmaker Liao Pen-yen (
Also, Lee warned that lifting the investment ban would lead to the collapse of Taiwan's economy unless proper regulatory measures were available, Liao said.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
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