TSMC deputy manager charged with stealing 21 core tech secrets for China | Taiwan's first case, 7 years sought
TL;DR
Taiwan's High Prosecutors Office on July 20 charged a TSMC deputy manager surnamed Chen with violating the National Security Act and seeks 7 years' jail — Taiwan's first prosecution for intent to leak core technology to China. Chen conspired with Hong Kong national Ding Xiaohu on the "Blue Ocean Plan," illegally acquiring 21 pieces of core technology and trade secrets.
Taiwan's High Prosecutors Office on July 20 charged a detained TSMC deputy manager surnamed Chen under the National Security Act and trade-secrets law — seeking 7 years in prison. It is Taiwan's first prosecution targeting intent to leak core critical technology and trade secrets to mainland China. Chen allegedly conspired with Ding Xiaohu, a Hong Kong national, to set up a semiconductor materials analysis firm in the mainland under the code name "Blue Ocean Plan," illegally acquiring 21 pieces of TSMC core technology and general trade secrets.
The case originated with the Investigation Bureau probing Ding Xiaohu's development of a mainland spy ring in Taiwan and intelligence collection; the Chen link emerged as a separate discovery. Taiwan's 2022 revision of the National Security Act added an "economic espionage offense," naming 12 categories of core critical technology for special protection — advanced semiconductor process, materials analysis, and packaging yields are among the three most sensitive.
The "core critical technology" threshold is extremely high — in two years, it has only been invoked once, against the TSMC 2nm process leak case. This is the first time the classification extends to "materials analysis" — signaling that prosecutors believe the material chain is sufficient to shorten mainland chip industry's materials validation cycle.
If convicted, Chen faces 7 years plus a ban on working in the semiconductor industry — Taiwan's industry-wide firewall for sensitive-tech workers under the National Security Act.
via Lianhe Zaobao
The case originated with the Investigation Bureau probing Ding Xiaohu's development of a mainland spy ring in Taiwan and intelligence collection; the Chen link emerged as a separate discovery. Taiwan's 2022 revision of the National Security Act added an "economic espionage offense," naming 12 categories of core critical technology for special protection — advanced semiconductor process, materials analysis, and packaging yields are among the three most sensitive.
The "core critical technology" threshold is extremely high — in two years, it has only been invoked once, against the TSMC 2nm process leak case. This is the first time the classification extends to "materials analysis" — signaling that prosecutors believe the material chain is sufficient to shorten mainland chip industry's materials validation cycle.
If convicted, Chen faces 7 years plus a ban on working in the semiconductor industry — Taiwan's industry-wide firewall for sensitive-tech workers under the National Security Act.
via Lianhe Zaobao
