04 September 2024

An investigation has revealed that eight Chinese chip companies are accused of illegally poaching talent and trade secrets in Taiwan, according to the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office. This probe highlights the intense global competition to advance key technologies used in smartphones, vehicles, and artificial intelligence.

The joint investigation, launched last month by the Hsinchu, Taipei, and New Taipei City prosecutors’ offices, involved 135 officers from the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. Between August 19 and last Friday, they raided 30 locations and interrogated 65 individuals, as stated by the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office.

The companies in question allegedly have concealed their true identities while recruiting talent from Hsinchu Science Park to gain access to advanced technologies like semiconductors. The firms implicated include iCommsemi, Shanghai New Vision Microelectronics Co, NJAVC, Emotibot Technologies Ltd, Tongfang Co, ACTT, Naura Technology Group Co, and Hestia Power Inc.

Naura, a supplier to China’s leading chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, is accused of illegally recruiting engineers working with chip-related equipment. Naura, however, claims its Taiwan office complies with local laws and denies any poaching activities.

Hestia Power is alleged to have funnelled capital into Taiwan by setting up shell companies in third countries, using funds from a sub-fund of the Chinese Ministry of Finance’s China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund.

Tongfang, owned by China National Nuclear Corp, reportedly disguised its funding sources by establishing a Taiwanese company that recruited nearly 100 researchers to acquire technology.

ACTT, which deals in IC patents and product design, is said to have attempted to obscure its illegal activities in Taiwan by instructing its staff to register their health insurance with trade unions or district offices.