Taiwan’s government proposed on Thursday a new law to prevent China from stealing its chip technology, amid rising concern in Taipei that Beijing is stepping up its economic espionage.

Taiwan’s cabinet said it had proposed new offences for “economic espionage” under the national security law, setting out punishment of up to 12 years in prison for those who leak core technologies to China or “foreign enemy forces”.

Using chip giant TSMC’s most advanced 2-nanometer chipmaking technology as an example, cabinet spokesman Mr. Lo Ping-cheng said such technology could be deemed vital to Taiwan’s security under the new law, and thus extra protection was needed for it, in addition to existing laws on trade secrets.

Everyone knows that TSMC has world-leading technologies, Mr. Lo said. If their technologies were stolen there would be a significant impact.

A designated court for economic espionage crime would be established to speed up trials, Mr. Lo added.

The government also proposed tightening laws to prevent Chinese companies from illegally poaching Taiwan talent via firms set up in a third country.