Taiwan Spy Catchers Target Chinese Poachers Of Chip Designers

Taiwan's spy catchers have launched probes into around 100 Chinese firms suspected of illegally poaching semiconductor engineers and other tech talent, a senior official at the island's Investigation Bureau told Yimou Lee and Sarah Wu of Reuters.

Photo Insert: Beijing-based Starblaze Technology, an integrated circuit (IC) design house, has been accused of running an R&D center in the tech hub of Hsinchu without approval.

The number excludes the seven prosecuted since the start of last year and the 27 which have either been raided or whose owners have been summoned for questioning by the bureau, the official said.

Home to industry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (TSMC) and accounting for 92% of the world's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing capacity, Taiwan possesses what China needs - chip expertise in spades.

In December 2020, the Taiwan justice ministry created a task force within its Investigation Bureau - its main spy catching organization - to tackle poaching.

One case under investigation involves a firm that purports to be a Taiwanese data analysis company but which authorities believe is an arm of a Shanghai-based chip firm sending chip design blueprints to China.

In mid-March, after nearly a year of surveillance, the bureau summoned the firm's owner for questioning. The owner has since been released on bail. Other tricks employed include incorporating units in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands, making it harder to identify money inflows from China.

Beijing-based Starblaze Technology, an integrated circuit (IC) design house, has been accused of running an R&D center in the tech hub of Hsinchu without approval. It allegedly conducted job interviews via Zoom and used a Hong Kong company to handle payroll and insurance, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters. The trial is ongoing.

Tongfu Microelectronics, a Chinese state-affiliated company, was accused of having an illegal office whose employees received salaries in US dollars in offshore accounts wired via a Hong Kong-based subsidiary. The defendants were found guilty in January.

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