Kyodo News reported that Japan’s new economic security law, which aims to support the stable global supply of critical technologies such as semiconductors and protect their patents in the face of China’s growing interest in such materials, went into effect Monday.
On May 11, Japan’s parliament passed an economic security law with the aim of gradually implementing it over the next two years. The law “establishes a system of secret patents held in Japan to ensure that technological breakthroughs are not used by other countries to develop nuclear weapons or other military equipment,” Reuters reported at the time. It targets China. “. “.
The new aspects of the law went into effect on 1 August. Kyodo News wrote about the development: “The second consists of two pillars – strengthening supply chains to continuously supply essential products and advancing the development of artificial intelligence and other modern technologies. with the cooperation of the public and private sectors”
Tokyo News Agency stated that the “other two pillars” of the law should come into effect gradually, starting in 2023. Pending orders include “for the government to review infrastructure in industries such as telecommunications and transportation to reduce vulnerability to cyberattacks and other threats, and also to protect certain patents related to sensitive technologies from public view.”
Japan’s economic security law “prescribes up to two years’ imprisonment or a maximum fine of 1 million yen ($7,670) for those who disclose undisclosed patent information,” Kyodo News said in May.
Tokyo’s efforts to protect its critical tech industries from prying eyes come amid growing Chinese interest in such industries. In recent years, Beijing has become notorious for allegedly stealing sensitive information needed to make such products from other countries, while intensifying its participation in global competition to develop advanced technologies.
In June, Bloomberg noted the following about Beijing’s alleged support for intellectual property theft by Chinese engineers:
China is lagging behind in semiconductor manufacturing, making its most important industry dependent on technology dominated by foreign companies. Developing your own cutting-edge chips is a priority made difficult by US sanctions that limit access to the latest hardware. Beijing has taken unprecedented steps to overcome such hurdles, including launching a $150 billion semiconductor initiative to boost domestic production in 2014.
According to the FBI, China has also encouraged people to steal technology that advances Beijing’s interests. [U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation]. “China understands that it needs to make a breakthrough in advanced technology,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “Instead of changing, China often steals American intellectual property and then uses it to compete with the American companies it has experimented with.”
Bloomberg cited the US government’s decision to impose sanctions on Chinese technology company Huawei in August 2020. The sanctions prohibit any foreign semiconductor company from selling microchips designed or manufactured using proprietary software or technology, unless they obtain special license permission from Huawei from the United States. for such an agreement.
Source: Breitbart
