China poses a dire threat to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry as it steps up efforts to poach Taiwan’s top chip talent, following the US’ implementation of stringent chip restrictions. Beijing is keen to develop its own semiconductor technologies, leveraging skilled engineers from Taiwan, Europe and other countries to circumvent US restrictions on providing China access to advanced US chips, particularly those used in artificial intelligence applications, as well as other chip technologies and manufacturing equipment.
Taiwan has always contended with talent competition from China, but the situation is worsening. The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday said that China’s ARK Semi and ShenZhen TIGO Semiconductor have illegally poached Taiwanese chip engineers involved in research and development (R&D) to set up their own R&D centers. ARK Semi has poached 50 R&D engineers since 2020, the office said. TIGO specializes in providing data storage solutions. The companies’ talent poaching efforts are jeopardizing the development of Taiwanese semiconductor companies, the office said.
In a separate statement on Friday, the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) said it is investigating illegal talent poaching by 11 Chinese companies, including China’s biggest chipmaker, Semiconductor Manufacturing International, and cloud-based networking chip designer Cloudnix. The bureau said the companies represented themselves as being based in Singapore or third foreign countries to get around restrictions.
The situation is particularly dire for Taiwan as local memorychip makers and flat-panel manufacturers have lost competitiveness to their Chinese rivals, which have been utilizing old tricks to advance technologies and expand capacity with China state funds and the aid of Taiwanese talent.
Taiwan now only plays a marginal role in the world’s DRAM and LCD industries. Taiwan’s two largest LCD panel makers, AUO and Innolux, are diversifying their businesses to other segments such as chip packaging and reducing revenue reliance on LCD. They no longer consider themselves LCD companies.
Meanwhile, Nanya Technology, the nation’s largest DRAM chipmaker, is one of the victims of China’s large-scale talent poaching. The memorychip maker has lost numerous senior managers and skilled engineers over the more than 10 years since the rise of China’s top memorychip maker, Yangtze Memory Technologies. In just about a decade, Yangtze has significantly outpaced Nanya in terms of technology and capacity and plays a key role in the world’s memorychip industry, swaying the industry’s supply-demand dynamics.
In 2002, semiconductors, memorychip manufacturing and LCDs were seen as the major rising stars of Taiwan’s industry under the “two trillion, twin-star” project. In about two decades, memorychip makers and LCD manufacturers were knocked off the pedestal, while semiconductor contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co and chip designer MediaTek continue to outshine world rivals and support Taiwan’s economy.
Although the government in 2022 reclassified Chinese firms and implemented stricter business espionage rules, the changes did not deter desperate Chinese companies from stealing top talent and trade secrets. They are only getting more aggressive as the offenders only face up to three years in prison or NT$25 million (US$753,103) in fines. Since 2020, the MJIB has launched more than 100 investigations into talent poaching, it said.
Taiwan is facing a severe talent shortage. The government must implement more measures, with stricter penalties to curb talent poaching and safeguard Taiwan’s competitiveness in key sectors. On the business side, companies should bolster their talent retention campaigns and talent acquisition programs to maintain their competitiveness.
The Chinese government on March 29 sent shock waves through the Tibetan Buddhist community by announcing the untimely death of one of its most revered spiritual figures, Hungkar Dorje Rinpoche. His sudden passing in Vietnam raised widespread suspicion and concern among his followers, who demanded an investigation. International human rights organization Human Rights Watch joined their call and urged a thorough investigation into his death, highlighting the potential involvement of the Chinese government. At just 56 years old, Rinpoche was influential not only as a spiritual leader, but also for his steadfast efforts to preserve and promote Tibetan identity and cultural
The gutting of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA) by US President Donald Trump’s administration poses a serious threat to the global voice of freedom, particularly for those living under authoritarian regimes such as China. The US — hailed as the model of liberal democracy — has the moral responsibility to uphold the values it champions. In undermining these institutions, the US risks diminishing its “soft power,” a pivotal pillar of its global influence. VOA Tibetan and RFA Tibetan played an enormous role in promoting the strong image of the US in and outside Tibet. On VOA Tibetan,
Former minister of culture Lung Ying-tai (龍應台) has long wielded influence through the power of words. Her articles once served as a moral compass for a society in transition. However, as her April 1 guest article in the New York Times, “The Clock Is Ticking for Taiwan,” makes all too clear, even celebrated prose can mislead when romanticism clouds political judgement. Lung crafts a narrative that is less an analysis of Taiwan’s geopolitical reality than an exercise in wistful nostalgia. As political scientists and international relations academics, we believe it is crucial to correct the misconceptions embedded in her article,
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), the leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), caused a national outrage and drew diplomatic condemnation on Tuesday after he arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office dressed in a Nazi uniform. Sung performed a Nazi salute and carried a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf as he arrived to be questioned over allegations of signature forgery in the recall petition. The KMT’s response to the incident has shown a striking lack of contrition and decency. Rather than apologizing and distancing itself from Sung’s actions,
RSS