TAIPEI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Taiwan's exclusion from the

new U.S. curbs on artificial intelligence (AI) chip and

technology exports should "give confidence" about Taipei's own

controls and respect for the law, the island's government said

on Wednesday.

The U.S. said on Monday it would further restrict AI

exports, as it attempts to keep advanced computing power in the

United States and among its allies.

The new regulations cap the number of AI chips that can be

exported to most countries and maintain a block on exports to

China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

But the measures allow America's closest friends, including

Taiwan, unlimited access to U.S. AI technology.

The inclusion of Taiwan as a "tier one" partner, allowing it

unlimited access to the tech, "should give confidence about our

government's management and controls and companies' respect of

the law", Taiwan's Economy Ministry said in a statement.

It added that it had continued to invite U.S. officials and

other industry professionals to Taiwan to help companies

"understand relevant regulatory laws and trends" amid the

ongoing U.S. restrictions on AI technology since 2022.

Taiwan is home to TSMC, the world's largest

contract chipmaker and a major supplier of chips to AI darling

Nvidia ( NVDA ).

Taiwan's government, ever wary of pressure from Beijing

which views the democratically governed island as its own

territory, already has strict rules on chip exports to China and

has repeatedly said it will enforce U.S. restrictions.

Last year, TSMC suspended shipments to a Chinese company

called Sophgo after one of the Taiwan firm's chips was found to

have been illegally incorporated into a Huawei AI processor.

China's Huawei, a telecommunications equipment maker and

technology conglomerate, was in 2019 added to a U.S. list for

activities contrary to U.S. national security and foreign-policy

interests.

Exporters are barred from shipping goods and technology to

them without a licence, which is likely to be denied.