China challenged the US yesterday to show evidence to support charges that Beijing backed a scheme by Taiwanese and Chinese companies to steal trade secrets from a US-based semiconductor firm.
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday accused the companies of stealing an estimated US$8.75 billion worth of know-how from semiconductor giant Micron Technology Inc.
The US Department of Justice unveiled criminal charges against Chinese state-owned Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co (晉華集成電路) and Taiwan’s United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), along with three UMC officials.
Photo: AFP
It said they conspired to steal US-based Micron’s advanced designs to turn Fujian Jinhua into a major player in the global computer chip market.
“If the US side is really concerned, they should provide concrete examples that can withstand the test of evidence and facts,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang (陸慷) told a regular press briefing.
The charges were the latest in a series of cases targeting what Washington calls an ongoing Beijing program to steal valuable US industrial and commercial secrets to advance the Chinese economy.
“Taken together, these cases and many others like them paint a grim picture of a country bent on stealing its way up the ladder of economic development and doing so at American expense,” Sessions said. “This behavior is illegal. It is wrong. It is a threat to our national security, and it must stop.”
US President Donald Trump has cited China’s alleged theft of US technological know-how among a litany of grievances in his trade spat with the Asian power.
The indictment released in the US district court in San Jose, California, alleges that three former Micron employees in Taiwan — Stephen Chen (陳正坤), He Jianting (何建庭) and Kenny Wang (王永明) — joined UMC in 2015 and 2016 with the express plan of handing over to the company Micron’s design and manufacturing processes for specific DRAM semiconductors.
Those would then be transferred to Fujian Jinhua under a contract set by Chen.
Prior to the alleged plot, neither the Chinese nor the Taiwanese company had any DRAM production capability, US prosecutors said.
Chen was originally a top executive at Micron’s operation in Taiwan. He moved in 2015 to lead UMC, a contract chip manufacturer listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and subsequently became president of Fujian Jinhua.
UMC said that it takes the theft charges leveled against the company seriously and would do everything possible to clear its name.
“For nearly 40 years, UMC has devoted countless energy and resources to the development of integrated circuit-related technology and has won thousands of patents across the world,” the company said, adding that “we will do our utmost to respond to the charges and have hired lawyers to clear our name and defend the interests of our shareholders.”
UMC said that the allegations in the indictment and complaint are “virtually the same as allegations in a civil complaint previously filed by Micron against UMC.”
“UMC regrets that the US Attorney’s Office brought these charges without first notifying UMC and giving it an opportunity to discuss the matter,” the company said.
Micron filed a civil lawsuit against UMC and Fujian Jinhua in December last year at a federal court in California, accusing the companies of intellectual property infringements related to its DRAM chips after prosecutors in Taiwan charged two Micron employees with stealing trade secrets, a Reuters report said.
In January, UMC filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Micron in China and won the lawsuit.
The US Department of Commerce on Monday placed heavy restrictions on Fujian Jinhua’s ability to buy US machinery and materials for its factories that would boost its DRAM production capabilities.
In addition to the criminal charges announced on Thursday, the US Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit to block imports of any UMC and Fujian Jinhua products using stolen Micron technology.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia
RSS