An investigation revealed eight Chinese chip companies allegedly illegally poaching talent and trade secrets in Taiwan, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday, underscoring a heated global rivalry to develop key technology used in cellphones, vehicles and artificial intelligence.
In a joint investigation launched last month by the Hsinchu, Taipei and New Taipei City prosecutors’ offices, 135 officers under the direction of the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau raided 30 locations and questioned 65 people from Aug. 19 to Friday last week, the Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement.
The Chinese companies allegedly hid their backgrounds and recruited talent from Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), in an effort to acquire high-end technologies such as semiconductors, it said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
The companies were iCommsemi (中國深圳市南方硅谷半導體), Shanghai New Vision Microelectronics Co (上海新相微電子), NJAVC (南京齊芯半導體), Emotibot Technologies Ltd (中國竹間智能科技上海), Tongfang Co (同方), ACTT (成都銳成芯微科技), Naura Technology Group Co (中國北方華創微電子裝備) and Hestia Power Inc (中國上海瀚薪科技), prosecutors said.
Naura, which supplies China’s biggest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (中芯), allegedly illegally recruited engineers who worked on chip-related equipment, they said.
The Beijing-based company said in a statement to Bloomberg News that its office in Taiwan “was set up in accordance with local laws and regulations and there is no poaching.”
Hestia Power allegedly moved capital to Taiwan by setting up shell companies in third countries with funding from a sub-fund of the of the Chinese Ministry of Finance’s China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund, prosecutors said.
Tongfang — owned by China National Nuclear Corp (中國核工業集團), a Chinese state-run enterprise that oversees military nuclear programs, information technology, and energy and environmental projects — allegedly disguised its source of funding by setting up a Taiwanese company that recruited a research team of nearly 100 people, in an attempt to acquire technology, they said.
ACTT, a supplier of IC patents and product design, allegedly attempted to cover up its illegal business in Taiwan by telling its staff to register their health insurance at trade unions or district offices, they said.
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
A saleswoman, surnamed Chen (陳), earlier this month was handed an 18-month prison term for embezzling more than 2,000 pairs of shoes while working at a department store in Tainan. The Tainan District Court convicted Chen of embezzlement in a ruling on July 7, sentencing her to prison for illegally profiting NT$7.32 million (US$248,929) at the expense of her employer. Chen was also given the opportunity to reach a financial settlement, but she declined. Chen was responsible for the sales counter of Nike shoes at Tainan’s Shinkong Mitsukoshi Zhongshan branch, where she had been employed since October 2019. She had previously worked
RSS