Law enforcement officers on Thursday searched five locations in Taipei and New Taipei City, questioned nine people and two executives as part of a probe into alleged talent poaching by a Chinese company.
New Taipei City prosecutors collected evidence at the Taipei office of RogersAI Technology Co (羅傑斯人工智能) and other sites of the firm, which is allegedly covertly owned by China-based cryptocurrency mining company Bitmain Technologies (比特大陸科技).
RogersAI chairman Lin Chen-ting (林承廷) and chief executive officer Luo Shih-chieh (羅士傑) were released on bail.
Photo: Bloomberg
Lin and Luo allegedly sought to recruit Taiwanese engineers with expertise in artificial intelligence, facial recognition technologies, biometric authentication and other fields, prosecutor Hsu Hung-wei (許宏緯) said, adding that the firm spent about NT$150 million (US$5.05 million) on the efforts over the past two years.
RogersAI allegedly targeted talent at local technology firms, such as the research-and-development division of Delta Electronics and the Hon Hai Research Institute, enticing about 50 staff to change employers, Hsu said.
The probe focuses on fund transactions at RogersAI and its ownership structure, Hsu said, adding that the company is allegedly a subsidiary of China-based Fujian KuKe3D Technology Co (福建庫克智能科技), which is owned by Bitmain.
Hsu said RogersAI seems to have been set up solely for talent poaching purposes.
Lin and Luo allegedly hold executive positions at Fujian KuKe3D, he added.
“Illegal talent poaching by Chinese firms poses a serious threat and undermines the development of the local high-tech sector,” Hsu said.
Lin and Luo faced pending charges of contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which requires Chinese firms to seek approval from the Ministry of Economic Affairs before investing in Taiwan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday voiced dissatisfaction with the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans- Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), whose latest meeting, concluded earlier the same day, appeared not to address the country’s application. In a statement, MOFA said the CPTPP commission had "once again failed to fairly process Taiwan’s application," attributing the inaction to the bloc’s "succumbing to political pressure," without elaborating. Taiwan submitted its CPTPP application under the name "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu" on Sept. 22, 2021 -- less than a week after China
THE GOOD WORD: More than 100 colleges on both sides of the Pacific will work together to bring students to Taiwan so they can learn Mandarin where it is spoken A total of 102 universities from Taiwan and the US are collaborating in a push to promote Taiwan as the first-choice place to learn Mandarin, with seven Mandarin learning centers stood up in the US to train and support teachers, the Foundation for International Cooperation in Higher Education of Taiwan (FICHET) said. At the annual convention of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages held over the weekend in New Orleans, Louisiana, a Taiwan Pavilion was jointly run by 17 representative teams from the FICHET, the Overseas Community Affairs Council, the Steering Committee for the Test of Proficiency-Huayu, the
A home-style restaurant opened by a Taiwanese woman in Quezon City in Metro Manila has been featured in the first-ever Michelin Guide honoring exceptional restaurants in the Philippines. The restaurant, Fong Wei Wu (豐味屋), was one of 74 eateries to receive a “Michelin Selected” honor in the guide, while one restaurant received two Michelin stars, eight received one star and 25 were awarded a “Bib Gourmand.” The guide, which was limited to restaurants in Metro Manila and Cebu, was published on Oct. 30. In an interview, Feng Wei Wu’s owner and chef, Linda, said that as a restaurateur in her 60s, receiving an
MORE RETALIATION: China would adopt a long-term pressure strategy to prevent other countries or future prime ministers following in Sanae Takaichi’s steps, an academic said Taiwan should maintain communications with Japan, as Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is to lead a revision of security documents, Taiwanese academics said yesterday. Tensions have risen between Japan and China over remarks by Takaichi earlier this month that the use of force against Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan. Prospect Foundation president Lai I-chung (賴怡忠) yesterday said Takaichi’s stance regarding Taiwan is the same as past Japanese prime ministers, but her position is clearer than that of her predecessors Fumio Kishida and Shigeru Ishiba. Although Japan views a “Taiwan contingency” as a “survival-threatening situation,” which would allow its military to
RSS