Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.
Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said.
The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology.
Photo: Reuters
Two-nanometer wafers are the most advanced design and the tape-out process for making the first chips is scheduled to take place next month.
The office’s intellectual property branch launched a probe into the data breach after TSMC reported the incident to the authorities, it said.
The case is the first time Taiwan has invoked the National Security Act’s (國家安全法) provisions barring Taiwanese from leaking the nation’s core technology to foreign governments or commercial entities, the office said.
Article 3 of the act stipulates that core national technologies cannot be reproduced, utilized or disclosed without authorization, it said.
Law enforcement officials are working to determine the motive behind the alleged intellectual property theft and whether classified technology has been transferred to a third party, the office said.
Prosecutors did not announce whether the engineers were acting on behalf of a foreign government or company.
TSMC said that it has zero tolerance for any action that jeopardizes its operational secrets and that it would work with law enforcement to protect its competitive advantage.
Police and prosecutors have carried out a search of Tokyo Electron’s branch at the Hsinchu Science Park, which sources said could be related to the leak at TSMC.
The race to secure a leading role in the artificial intelligence era has made cutting-edge chips and memory a prized asset. Investment in chipmaking development is at an all-time high, as TSMC and its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, have set aside more than US$30 billion in annual capital expenditure, while US and Chinese companies are also eyeing developing the most advanced technology.
China’s progress has stalled several generations behind TSMC, with Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯) now fabricating silicon at 7-nanometers. In the US, Intel Corp is at a more advanced stage.
Additional reporting by Wu Sheng-ju and Bloomberg
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
TWO HEAVYWEIGHTS: Trump and Xi respect each other, are in a unique position to do something great, and they want to do that together, the US envoy to China said The administration of US President Donald Trump has told Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) “we don’t want any coercion, but we want [the Taiwan dispute] resolved peacefully,” US ambassador to China David Perdue said in a TV interview on Thursday. Trump “has said very clearly, we are not changing the ‘one China’ policy, we are going to adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act, the three communiques and the ‘six assurances’ that were done under [former US president Ronald] Reagan,” Perdue told Joe Kernen, cohost of CNBC’s Squawk Box. The act, the Three Joint Communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington
DEEPENING TIES: The two are boosting cooperation in response to China’s coercive actions and have signed MOUs on search-and-rescue and anti-smuggling efforts Taiwan and Japan are moving to normalize joint coast guard training and considering the inclusion of other allies, the Japanese Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. Both nations’ coast guards in June sent vessels to the seas south of the Sakishima Islands to conduct joint training, the report said, adding that it was the second joint maritime training exercise since the nations severed formal diplomatic ties in September 1972. Japan dispatched the Nagoya Coast Guard’s Mizuho, a 134m, 6,000-tonne patrol vessel which can carry a helicopter, while the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) sent the 126m, 4,000-tonne Yunlin, one of its largest vessels, the report
RSS