Taiwan takes action! Gong Mingxin confirmed: AI chips lost to China in violation of regulations may be held criminally liable

Taiwan plans to include AI servers and advanced semiconductors in its export control list. After the measures take effect, if controlled AI hardware is shipped to China, criminal liability will be pursued in accordance with the Trade Law.

Economic Minister Gong Mingxin revealed to Bloomberg that Taiwan plans to include AI servers and advanced semiconductors in its export control list. After the measures take effect, controlled AI hardware shipped to China will be investigated for criminal liability in accordance with the Trade Law. However, Gong Mingxin did not specify the implementation time.

The report quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that in order to cooperate with the U.S. ban, Taiwan is considering implementing stricter export controls on the sale of AI chips to China. The new measures are one of the ways to deal with the risk of chip smuggling. The purpose is to give relevant units more legal means to expand the crackdown on advanced hardware smuggling. In particular, it has recently been discovered that AI servers equipped with Huida chips have flowed from Taiwan into China.

In this regard, Gong Mingxin confirmed to Bloomberg that Taiwan plans to include AI servers and advanced chips in the list of controlled items. After the measures take effect, shipping restricted AI hardware to China will violate the Trade Law and constitute a criminal offense. However, the implementation timetable has not yet been stated.

In an interview on the 12th, Gong Mingxin emphasized, "In the future, the measures we take on some control items will correspond to those of the United States, because we have made many commitments in the reciprocal trade agreement." He was referring to the trade agreement signed by Taiwan and the United States this year, but did not disclose when the new measures will be implemented.

People familiar with the matter said that Taiwan is evaluating the establishment of a more complete export control structure for AI chips. In the future, the scope of restrictions may no longer be limited to blacklisted companies such as Huawei or SMIC, but will be expanded to all relevant customers in China.

According to reports, Beijing is strongly dissatisfied with the strict restrictions on AI chip exports to China implemented by the United States starting in 2022, and Taiwan's restrictive measures may further anger Beijing.