Taiwan is preparing stricter export controls on AI chips to China in an attempt to better align with the U.S.
Taiwan's Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin said in an interview with Bloomberg that the government plans to place AI servers and cutting-edge semiconductors on a list of controlled items.
Under the proposed measures, violations would be considered criminal offenses under Taiwan's Foreign Trade Act, according to Kung.
"Going forward, some of our measures on controlled items will correspond to American ones because we have made quite some commitments in the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade," Kung said.
The minister, however, did not specify when the tighter restrictions will take effect.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has confirmed the report with The Latent, but declined to provide a timeline for implementation.
The planned restrictions come as the U.S. continues to restrict China's access to some high-end AI chips and chipmaking equipment through export controls. Chinese authorities and companies have since stepped up efforts to develop homegrown technologies, while some companies in China have reportedly obtained chips through smuggling networks and black markets.
U.S. officials have reportedly alleged that Nvidia hardware worth billions of dollars has been illegally shipped to China through Southeast Asian routes in recent years.