The Executive Yuan on Thursday approved draft amendments to the National Security Act and the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. The amendments, intended to safeguard Taiwan's high-tech industries and prevent foreign leaks of important core technologies, will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for deliberation.
Premier Su Tseng-chang said that high-tech industries are a vital lifeline of Taiwan's economy. However, in recent years, China's "red supply chain" has infiltrated Taiwanese industries to an increasingly severe degree, utilizing various methods to lure high-tech talent from Taiwan and steal Taiwanese core technologies. Furthermore, offenders often deliberately evade Taiwanese regulations, engage in business activities in Taiwan without legal permission, or carry out illegal investments under the guise of another's name. This has resulted in considerable harm to the cybersecurity, economic interests, industry competitiveness and national security of Taiwan. It is necessary to develop a more stringent and comprehensive legal framework for national security that will more effectively manage and curb illegal activity.
Main draft amendments to the two laws are as follows:
1. National Security Act: Establish a crime of economic espionage, and a crime of extraterritorial use of national core technology trade secrets.
2. Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area: Establish a mechanism to review travel to China by people who receive authorization, subsidies or investments of a certain level from government agencies to engage in national core technology businesses. Clearly stipulate that a Taiwanese proxy used by Chinese investors to illegally invest in Taiwan, or used by Chinese enterprises to illegally engage in business activities in Taiwan, shall be subject to punishment. The proxy's corresponding criminal liabilities shall also be raised.