Taiwan places Chinese tech firms on export control list

台灣將中國科技公司列入出口管制名單

Firms unable to trade with Huawei, SMIC without Taipei’s approval


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs published a revised export control list on Saturday that includes Chinese tech companies, including Huawei and the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC).

The move, announced by the ministry’s International Trade Administration, will come as a blow to China’s tech industry, particularly its ambitions to domestically develop AI chips, reported Cryptopolitan. To do business with Huawei, SMIC or their foreign subsidiaries, companies will need approval from the central government in Taipei.

The new measures are an effort by Taiwan to crack down on the theft of sensitive technologies and the poaching of top talent in the chip industry, reported Reuters. SMIC is China’s largest chipmaker, while Huawei is at the center of China’s efforts to develop AI processors.

Taiwan’s TSMC is the world’s leading contract chipmaker, producing the largest share of the most advanced chips. Without direct access to TSMC’s supply, more resources will be required to use third-party operatives to sustain China’s domestic development of AI technologies.

The export control list specifically mentions technology and products related to chip manufacturing and plant construction. The measures are intended to disrupt China’s plans to establish a supply network for the construction of “covert chip plants,” per Cryptopolitan.