• Source:JND

Taiwan prosecutors have ordered an arrest warrant be issued against OnePlus CEO Pete Lau for allegedly violating local laws by assisting the company in searching for engineers in Taiwan without government permission. The case is an example of Taiwan’s growing crackdown on Chinese technology companies hiring local workers.

Lau is accused of violating the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area, based on information provided by Taipei's Shilin District Prosecutors Office. Prosecutors also charged two Taiwanese men who they said helped him arrange the hiring. Investigators said that OnePlus had illegally hired more than 70 Taiwanese engineers.

Why Taiwan Is Taking Action

Chinese companies are not allowed to open offices or hire workers in Taiwan without government permission under Taiwanese law. Many companies try to circumvent these limitations by establishing foreign shell corporations or local fronts, authorities say.

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Unrestrained recruitment by Chinese companies posed a national security threat, officials believe, particularly in sensitive technology sectors. Taiwan is home to some of the world’s most talented semiconductor and electronics engineers, making it a ripe target for talent poaching.

OnePlus and Pete Lau’s Position

OnePlus is also a co-founding firm signed by Pete Lau, a big name in the tech industry of China, and started its venture in 2013. The brand was eventually incorporated into Oppo’s range of smartphones and had scaled up to a globally known name. The new accusations place Lau at the heart of a politically fraught battle between Taiwan and tech companies from China.

OnePlus has yet to formally publicly respond to the arrest warrant so far.

Part of a Larger Crackdown

The case is not isolated. Taiwanese authorities raided 34 sites last year while probing 11 Chinese technology companies accused of illicit recruitment. One of the companies listed was Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC), which reportedly hired Taiwanese engineers in secret via a Samoa-registered shell company.

More than 100 cases have been filed against Chinese companies since a special task force was set up in 2020, Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau has said.

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What This Means Going Forward

Taiwan is still hardening up enforcement amidst attempts to safeguard its technology ecosystem and avoid its talent leaking out. Officials say Taiwan, which shares a language and culture with the mainland, is particularly susceptible to recruitment attempts by China.

The case could be a precedent for other Chinese smartphone brands like OnePlus. It’s a wrecking ball to the grey-area hiring that Taiwan has been willing to indulge in and makes clear even high-profile executives might be held legally accountable.

What this ultimately means is that cross-border tech hiring in East Asia isn’t a business problem anymore—it’s a geopolitical one.


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