Two top executives of VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子), the world's second-largest maker of chipsets for personal computers, have been charged with industrial espionage, copyright violations and breach of trust, local media reported yesterday.
On Friday the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office indicted VIA chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) and her husband Chen Wen-chi (陳文琦), president of the company, for the alleged theft of technology from one of their client-competitors, D-Link Corp (
Prosecutors sought four-year jail terms for both Wang and Chen, who were accused of bribing an executive, Chang Chih-hao (張至皓), to facilitate the theft of an integrated-circuit (IC) chip simulation-based test program developed by rival D-Link.
A three-year sentence was also recommended for Chang if he was convicted of working for Wang and Chen to steal D-Link's secrets.
According to media reports, Wang and Chen allegedly instructed Chang, who had worked as a marketing manager at VIA since 1995, to join D-Link's software-development department in 2000 and re-produce the program for VIA's use after coming back to his former employer in 2001.
Wang and Chen allegedly paid Chang an extra bonus of some NT$1.5 million when he left the company on a paycheck of NT$1.22 million in total, the report added.
Chen yesterday dismissed the accusation, denying playing any role in the alleged industrial espionage.
Downplaying the allegation to be a misunderstanding, Chen told Era News yesterday that "a lot of family and company employees are innocent."
VIA, a leading chipmaker with US$720 million in revenues last year, argued that D-Link had played up the event from an employee's making a career choice to groundless allegations of corporate espionage.
Wang, 44, the daughter of business tycoon Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), chairman of the Formosa Group (台塑), is currently abroad and was not available for comment yesterday
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest foundry service provider, yesterday said that global semiconductor revenue is projected to hit US$1.5 trillion in 2030, after the figure exceeds US$1 trillion this year, as artificial intelligence (AI) demand boosts consumption of token and compute power. “We are still at the beginning of the AI revolution, but we already see a significant impact across the whole semiconductor ecosystem,” TSMC deputy cochief operating officer Kevin Zhang (張曉強) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “It is fair to say that in the past decade, smartphones and other mobile devices were
US-CHINA SUMMIT: MOFA welcomed US reassurance of no change in its Taiwan policy; Trump said he did not comment when Xi talked of opposing independence US President Donald Trump yesterday said he has not made a decision on whether to move forward with a major arms package for Taiwan after hearing concerns about it from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Trump’s comments on Taiwan came as he flew back to Washington after wrapping up critical talks in which both leaders said important progress was made in stabilizing US-China relations even as deep differences persist between the world’s two biggest powers on Iran and Taiwan. “I will make a determination,” Trump said, adding: “I’ll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right
TAIWAN ISSUE: US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on the first day of meetings that ‘it wouldn’t be a US-China summit without the Taiwan issue coming up’ There were no surprises on the first day of the summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, as the government reiterated that cross-strait stability is crucial to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the world. As the two presidents met for a highly anticipated summit yesterday, Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that missteps regarding Taiwan could push their two countries into “conflict.” Trump arrived in China with accolades for his host, calling Xi a “great leader” and “friend,” and extending an invitation to visit the White House
SECURITY: Taipei presses the US for arms supplies, saying the arms sales are not only a reflection of the US security commitment to Taiwan but also serve as a mutual deterrent against regional threats Taiwan is committed to preserving the cross-strait “status quo” and contributing to regional peace and stability, the Presidential Office said yesterday. “It is an undeniable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent democratic nation,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) reiterated, adding that Beijing has no right to claim sovereignty over Taiwan. The statements came after US President Donald Trump warned against Taiwanese independence. Trump wrapped up a state visit to Beijing on Friday, during which Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had pressed him not to support Taiwan. Taiwan depends heavily on US security backing to deter China from carrying
RSS