When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn 
Taiwan has alleged that Chinese companies are illegally poaching top talent in the country and attempting to undermine its status at the top of technology development.
Claims have been made that China is intent on stealing its trade know-how, which underpins the technology that drives advances in commodities like smartphones, cars, and even AI.
China claims Taiwan as part of its sovereign territory, with aspirations to assert full control over the democratically governed country, which insists only its citizens should determine its future.
This argument goes far beyond tapping up employees and directly relates to geopolitics and global rivalry, with the United States recognized as an important ally to the island entity.
Taiwan is also the home of the world’s biggest chipmaker TSMC, which acts as a standard bearer for the country.
Last week, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) warned its dominant neighbor is increasing its efforts to take Taiwan’s best talent, as evidenced by an increase in the number of cases.
Spokesperson Liang Wen-Chieh told a press conference, “The poaching of our high-tech talent has always been a major concern for us,” adding three cases related to this activity led to prosecutions just days before.
Ongoing Tensions Between Taiwan and China
An investigation found eight Chinese companies broke Taiwanese law, including Naura Technology Group, an important supply chain provider for China’s biggest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.
Naura is said to have illegally recruited engineers who worked on chip-related equipment, but in response, the Beijing-based firm told Bloomberg its Taiwan office “was set up in accordance with local laws and regulations and there is no poaching.”
These matters are an ongoing issue, following a previous report in May which alleged a Chinese Apple supplier was among eight Chinese companies “that came to Taiwan to illegally engage in the poaching of our high-tech talents.”
