Taiwan’s government has accused China of waging economic warfare against the Chinese-claimed island’s technology sector by stealing intellectual property and enticing away engineers, as its parliament considers strengthening legislation to prevent such alleged activity.
Taiwan is home to a thriving and world-leading semiconductor industry, used in everything from fighter jets and cars to smartphones, and the government has long been worried about China’s alleged efforts to copy that success, including by industrial espionage.
Four Taiwanese policymakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party are leading a proposal to amend the commercial secrets law to widen the scope of what is considered a secret and toughen penalties.
In a report to Parliament published on Wednesday about the proposed amendments, Taiwan’s National Security Bureau blamed China for most cases of industrial espionage by foreign forces discovered in recent years.
“The Chinese Communists’ orchestrated theft of technology from other countries poses a major threat to democracies,” it said.
“The aim of the Chinese Communists’ infiltration into our technology is not only about economic interests, but also has a political intention to make Taiwan poorer and weaker.”
Claims and counter-claims
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request by the Reuters news agency for comment, but Beijing has long denied being involved in industrial espionage.
The US and its allies have for years accused China of being engaged in cyber-espionage to gain an economic edge. In one of its last moves, the administration of former US President Donald Trump in January revoked licences for US companies selling equipment to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Trump had accused Huawei of providing Chinese authorities with the ability to spy on foreign firms and governments.
Tensions between the current administration of US President Joe Biden and China over Taiwan have also been on the rise…..read more
Source: Al Jazeera
