Taiwanese prosecutors indicted a former TSMC deputy manager on Monday for allegedly copying 21 confidential documents, some covering technologies Taiwan designates as national core technologies, intending to use them in China. Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of up to seven years for the man, surnamed Chen, who has been detained since late May, and describe the indictment as the first under Taiwan's National Security Act to involve an alleged attempt to leak the island's most sensitive chip technologies to China.
However, that alleged transfer never happened. TSMC's internal monitoring systems flagged irregularities, with the company reportedly recovering every improperly copied document after its own investigation, according to the prosecutors' office. A High Prosecutors' Office spokesperson told Nikkei Asia that despite the failed attempt, the case "remains highly significant" as the first of its kind.
