The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau is investigating whether China’s leading chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) illegally poached local engineers as part of an effort to access Taiwan’s cutting-edge chip technology.
SMIC set up a branch in Taiwan posing as a Samoa-based company and tried to hire local talent, prosecutors from the bureau said in a statement yesterday.
Local investigators this month raided 34 locations and questioned 90 people as part of a large-scale probe into 11 Chinese technology companies, including SMIC, the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau
A SMIC representative did not respond to requests for comment.
SMIC rose to global fame in 2023 when it worked with Huawei Technologies Co (華為) to produce an advanced 7-nanometer chip despite facing a myriad of US-led curbs that continue to prevent Chinese companies from securing the most advanced chipmaking equipment.
However, the two companies have now hit a snag with technology development as they cannot secure ASML Holding NV’s extreme ultraviolet lithography systems required to make the most cutting-edge chips.
As China faces growing restrictions on its access to advanced foreign technologies, it has aggressively tried to obtain know-how in cutting-edge segments including semiconductors by ramping up efforts to recruit engineers from Taiwan and elsewhere.
Taiwan has become a favorite talent farm for China as the two sides share the same language, and Taiwan has the best chipmaking technologies in the world.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) is the go-to chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp, producing the majority of the world’s artificial intelligence accelerators.
Taiwan does not allow Chinese companies to conduct business activities including hiring locally without formal government approval. However, there have been many cases of Chinese technology companies setting up operations in Taiwan and posing as foreign or local firms.
The bureau said it has opened more than 100 investigations into Chinese companies illegally hiring Taiwanese engineers since it formed a task force for such probes in 2020.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
RSS