Taiwan Aims to Ensure Its Security With Tech Export Controls

An NXP Semiconductor NV SBC4100 quad-core processor on display during the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. Computex kicked off Monday in Taipei, and as in years past drew industry chieftains from Nvidia Corp.'s Jensen Huang and Qualcomm Inc.'s Cristiano Amon to Young Liu of Foxconn, which makes the bulk of the world's iPhones and Nvidia servers. Photographer: Annabelle Chih/Bloomberg Photo by Annabelle Chih /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — Taiwan is trying to ensure that technology built domestically is not used to compromise the security of its people by imposing certain export curbs on a number of major Chinese companies. 

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“This has been a very challenging conversation between governments and private businesses,” Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim told reporters in Taipei on Friday in response to a question about Taipei’s recent decision to blacklist leading Chinese chip firms. “But we have generally aligned in understanding that ultimately, export control is to ensure that technology innovated, developed, and produced in Taiwan, is not used to compromise our security or to harm the safety and security of the Taiwanese people.” 

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Hsiao said that Taiwan will continue to engage with its partners on its export control policies to defend and secure values that are important to the Taiwanese society. Taiwanese officials have said that export controls are part of the ongoing US-Taiwan trade talks, and President Lai Ching-te has also pledged to close loopholes, a long-standing concern for Washington.

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In June, Taiwan included Huawei Technologies Co. and its chip production partner Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. in a blacklist, saying it is trying to combat arms proliferation and address other national security concerns with the move. 

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Local companies will require approval from the Taiwanese government before they can ship anything to users on the so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list. 

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In 2023, Bloomberg News reported that several Taiwanese companies were helping Huawei build infrastructure for an under-the-radar network of chip plants across southern China, which claims democratic, self-governing Taiwan as a part of its own and says it may take over the island by force if necessary. Taiwan rejects Beijing’s stance. 

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Hsiao reiterated that Taiwan aims to reach a trade agreement with the US by Aug. 1. Lai, meanwhile, has signaled a willingness to increase the purchase of energy, agricultural products and military equipment from the US to ease the trade imbalance. 

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(Updates with more comments from Hsiao in the 7th paragraph.)

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