Cabinet approves bill to toughen penalties for economic espionage
ROC Central News Agency
02/17/2022 06:45 PM
Taipei, Feb. 17 (CNA) The Cabinet on Thursday approved draft amendments to the National Security Act to make economic espionage a crime punishable by a jail term of up to 12 years and a fine of NT$100 million (US$3.59 million).
A provision was also added to the planned amendments setting a punishment of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to NT$50 million for extraterritorial misappropriation of trade secrets in key technologies.
The bill aims to prevent China or foreign forces from stealing Taiwan's core technologies and tighten the scrutiny of applications by experts and industry insiders in core technology sectors to visit China, according to Cabinet spokesperson Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) at a press briefing later in the day.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said at the Cabinet meeting that the high-tech industry is the lifeline of Taiwan, but the infiltration of this industry by China's "red supply chain" has become increasingly serious in recent years, according to Lo.
China uses various means to poach Taiwan's high-tech talents and steal its core and key technologies, Su was quoted by Lo as saying.
The so-called "red supply chain" refers to a fast-growing cluster of tech companies cultivated by the Chinese government to replace foreign competitors.
By circumventing Taiwan's laws and regulations, these companies conduct business activities without permission or illegally invest in Taiwan by using Taiwanese licenses, Su said, adding that this presented a risk to Taiwan's information security, economic gains, and national security.
As a result, the draft laws were drawn up to prevent Taiwan's critical technologies from theft, according to Su.
At the same meeting, the Cabinet also approved a draft amendment to the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area in a bid to deter Chinese capital from infiltrating Taiwan.
Under the amendment, for-profit Chinese businesses based outside of China cannot conduct business operations in Taiwan unless authorized and all subsidiaries established in Taiwan by these companies must comply with the Company Act. Those found in violation of the rules would face up to three years in prison or a fine of up to NT$15 million, it added.
The proposed amendment also stipulates that Taiwanese companies which are found to be a front for Chinese firms or lending their licenses to Chinese for making unauthorized investments in Taiwan will face a fine of up to NT$25 million.
The draft amendments have to be passed by the Legislative Yuan to become law.
(By Lai Yu-chen and Evelyn Kao)
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