Taiwan’s attempts to prevent Chinese companies from poaching talent and stealing chip secrets were derided by China as a provocative “smear”, which could not prevent interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
This week, Taiwan’s premier called on the government to speed up the process of revising laws mandating tougher punishments for those who steal chip technology from China, saying an effective deterrent was needed against the “red supply chain”.
The chip technology of Taiwan is used in everything from fighter jets to mobile phones, and laws must be passed enforcing harsher penalties to prevent China from stealing its technology, warning that the threat from the “red supply chain” would require an effective deterrent.
A spokesperson for Ma Xiaoguang said that mainland companies have been deliberately being smeared and intimidated in Taiwan recently, which further escalates cross-strait confrontation.
“Such political manipulation cannot harm the general trend of exchanges and cooperation between Taiwan’s business community and its citizens.”.
Taiwan possesses what China needs – chip expertise in spades, thanks to industry giant TSMC, which accounts for 92% of the world’s most advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity.
In a bid to force Taiwan to accept its sovereignty claims, China has stepped up its military and diplomatic pressure.
Only Taiwan’s 23 million citizens are able to decide the island’s future, and they will defend themselves if attacked.
