TL;DR
- Prosecutors in Taiwan have issued an arrest warrant against OnePlus CEO Pete Lau.
- Lau is accused of illegally recruiting engineers from Taiwan over the past decade.
- Taiwan has been ramping up efforts to protect its semiconductor expertise and engineering talent amid political tensions with China.
Taiwanese prosecutors have reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Pete Lau, the CEO and co-founder of OnePlus, in what appear to be escalating measures to curb the alleged poaching of talent by Chinese tech firms.
Bloomberg reports that according to Taiwan’s Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office, Lau is accused of illegally recruiting engineers from Taiwan over the past decade. Prosecutors claim that OnePlus unlawfully hired more than 70 Taiwanese engineers since 2014, violating local laws that restrict business and talent ties with mainland China. Two Taiwanese citizens who reportedly worked for Lau have also been indicted.
Taiwan has been ramping up efforts to protect its semiconductor expertise and engineering talent amid the ever-present political tensions with China. Authorities in the country have been presenting such cases as national security issues. Taiwan wants to protect itself against intellectual property leakage and talent drain to rival nations, and it looks like Lau and OnePlus are stuck in the crosshairs of these geopolitical tensions.
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Lau is one of the most prominent figures in the tech industry and even more so in China’s smartphone industry. Known for propelling OnePlus into a globally recognized brand, Lau also plays a crucial role at OnePlus’ mothership, OPPO, where he currently heads the product division.
As Bloomberg notes, Lau’s isn’t an isolated case. In recent years, the government of the country has threatened to restrict chip exports to South Africa, sued Tokyo Electron over alleged IP lapses, and investigated whether a new Intel hire illegally took trade secrets from TSMC.
Last year, prosecutors issued a similar arrest warrant for Grace Wang, chair of Luxshare Precision Industry, a key Chinese supplier and assembler for Apple products.
Lau did not respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg. OnePlus, however, said in a statement that its business operations remain normal and unaffected by the investigation. Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice has yet to comment publicly on the case.
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