The Executive Yuan yesterday approved amendments to toughen sanctions against economic spies working for China or other foreign nations.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) told a Cabinet meeting that China in the past few years has intensified its “red supply chain” infiltration of industries in Taiwan.
Chinese firms are attracting high-tech talent from Taiwan and stealing “core” technologies, Su said.
Photo: Lee Hsin-fang, Taipei Times
As a result, it is necessary to establish stricter regulations and a more robust national security policy to protect such technologies, he said.
The proposed amendments to the National Security Act (國家安全法) stipulate that anyone who steals Taiwan’s core technologies or trade secrets to give them to China or other hostile foreign forces would face five to 12 years in prison, and be fined NT$50 million to NT$100 million (US$1.79 million to US$3.59 million).
Those who give their own trade secrets of Taiwan’s core technologies to China, including Hong Kong and Macau, or other foreign jurisdictions would face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to NT$50 million, the proposed amendments say.
Draft amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) say that individuals or members of organizations that receive government subsidies for work on national core technologies must report to the government and secure approval if they want to travel to China less than three years after working on government-sponsored projects.
Such people who travel to China without securing prior approval would face a fine of up to NT$10 million, the draft amendments say.
The proposed changes to the National Security Act are necessary, as they offer two more layers of protection to prevent Taiwan’s core technologies from being illegally obtained by foreign hostile forces, complimenting protections in the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法), the Ministry of Justice said.
The Intellectual Property and Commercial Court and the Taiwan High Court are to have jurisdiction over cases of economic spying and extraterritorial use of core technologies, the ministry said.
Department of Prosecutorial Affairs Director-General Lin Jinn-tsun (林錦村) said that core technologies are those that are regulated by the government to uphold national defense and the safety of key infrastructure.
They also include leading technologies that have the potential to greatly elevate Taiwan’s global competitiveness, Lin said.
A list of core technologies is to be announced by the Executive Yuan, he said.
The proposed amendments need to be approved by the Legislative Yuan and promulgated by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) before they take effect.
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
‘COMING MENACINGLY’: The CDC advised wearing a mask when visiting hospitals or long-term care centers, on public transportation and in crowded indoor venues Hospital visits for COVID-19 last week increased by 113 percent to 41,402, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, as it encouraged people to wear a mask in three public settings to prevent infection. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said weekly hospital visits for COVID-19 have been increasing for seven consecutive weeks, and 102 severe COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths were confirmed last week, both the highest weekly numbers this year. CDC physician Lee Tsung-han (李宗翰) said the youngest person hospitalized due to the disease this year was reported last week, a one-month-old baby, who does not
RSS