Taiwan court hands out jail terms of up to 10 years in TSMC trade secrets case

The ruling follows one of Taiwan's ⁠highest profile cases of alleged breaches of national core technologies, involving charges under the National Security Act.

In August 2025, prosecutors indicted Chen Li-ming, a former TSMC and Tokyo Electron employee, of unlawfully obtaining the trade secrets, along with other defendants, in a bid to help Tokyo Electron ‌win ⁠more equipment orders from TSMC.

Chen was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with three other former employees of the world's biggest contract manufacturer of advanced ⁠AI chips getting terms ranging from two to six years.

The court in Taipei's sister city of New Taipei ⁠also gave a former Tokyo Electron employee a 10-month sentence, suspended for three years.

Neither Tokyo ⁠Electron nor TSMC immediately responded to requests for comment.

($1=T$31.4110)