Taiwan accuses China's biggest chipmaker SMIC of 'illegally' poaching tech talent

A logo hangs on the building of the Beijing branch of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) on December 4, 2020 in Beijing, China. The ministry said Taiwan began investigating the issue in December 2024. Eleven Chinese enterprises suspected of paoching talent were investigated, it said, with agents conducting searches at 34 locations and questioning 90 individuals. CNBC was unable to independently verify the claims and SMIC was not immediately available for comment. Taiwan's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MIJB) said in a statement that SMIC had used a Samoa-based entity as cover to set up a subsidiary on the island "under the guise of foreign investment" and has been "actively recruiting" talent from Taiwan. SMIC is China's biggest semiconductor manufacturing firm. It was thrust into the spotlight in 2023 when it was revealed to be the maker of the 7 nanometer chip in Huawei's smartphone at the time. A few years prior, SMIC was put on a U.S. govern ... Read full article.