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Taiwan Prosecutor Accuses Ex-TSMC Executive of Attempting to Leak Secrets to China
🇵🇾 Paraguay /Technology

Taiwan Prosecutor Accuses Ex-TSMC Executive of Attempting to Leak Secrets to China

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Official statement In the courts
  • Taiwan's High Prosecutors Office has formally accused a former TSMC executive, surnamed Chen, of attempting to leak trade secrets related to key technologies to China.
  • Chen, currently in pre-trial detention, allegedly violated national security and trade secret laws by reproducing and obtaining sensitive information with the intent to use it in mainland China.
  • The case is linked to an investigation into a suspected Chinese espionage network and seeks a seven-year prison sentence for Chen.

Taiwan's prosecutors have formally charged a former executive at TSMC, the world's leading contract chip manufacturer, with attempting to leak sensitive trade secrets to China. The executive, identified by the surname Chen, is accused of violating national security and trade secret laws.

According to the High Prosecutors Office of Intellectual Property, Chen, who is currently in pre-trial detention, allegedly copied and obtained confidential information regarding "key technologies" with the intention of using it in mainland China. Prosecutors are seeking a seven-year prison sentence for him.

During the period indicated (...), Chen reproduced without authorization and without right a total of 21 items of national security trade secrets and ordinary trade secrets of TSMC, and took them to his home to study, with the intention of using them in the mainland area.

— Taiwan's High Prosecutors Office of Intellectual PropertyDetailing the specific actions of the former TSMC executive.

The investigation into Chen emerged from a separate inquiry into a suspected Chinese espionage ring operating in Taiwan, reportedly linked to a deceased Hong Kong national named Ding Xiaohu. Prosecutors stated that between May 2023 and February 2024, Chen and Ding allegedly conspired to establish a semiconductor material analysis company in China, named CSMAC. Their goal was reportedly to recruit talent from Taiwan's chip industry, thereby undermining the island's international competitiveness.

Prosecutors emphasized that Chen "reproduced without authorization and without right a total of 21 items of national security trade secrets and ordinary trade secrets from TSMC." He allegedly took these documents home for study with the intent of their use in mainland China. The prosecution highlighted that Chen disregarded "industrial ethics" and the "competitive order" by mass-reproducing these secrets to foster semiconductor development in China, warning that "the technological bottom line cannot be crossed; the red line of the law cannot be challenged."

The technological bottom line cannot be crossed; the red line of the law cannot be challenged.

— Taiwan's High Prosecutors Office of Intellectual PropertyIssuing a strong warning regarding the protection of technological secrets and legal boundaries.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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