The Executive Yuan Wednesday approved the draft of the "Science and Technology Protection Law" in an effort to regulate Taiwan's exports of "sensitive" science and technology.
The National Science Council will take charge of the responsibility for implementing the law, while a "science and technology protection reviewing committee" will be set up to handle the work relating to "sensitive" science and technology.
Violators of the law can be sentenced to a prison term up to seven years or face forced labor and fines up to NT$10 million (US$285,700).
An official said that the law is designed to control the export and public disclosure of sensitive science and technology by enterprises or individuals after the government allowed conditional transfer of eight-inch wafer know-how to mainland China.
He noted that the spirit of the law is to protect science and technology, while improving the nation's scientific and technological competitiveness.
The to-be-established "science and technology protection reviewing committee" will be empowered to define "sensitive" items.
Meanwhile, Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh defended the government's decision to allow the island's two major semiconductor makers — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. and United Microelectronics Corp. — to build eight-inch wafer plants in mainland China.
He said that mainland China will be able to acquire wafer know-how from other sources even if the two Taiwan giants are barred from investing in mainland China.
Lee pointed out that if the two firms are prohibited from establishing plants in mainland China they will suffer losses.
