As our investigation explored
In 2020, a Taiwanese engineer accepted a job as a chip designer at Blue Ocean Smart System, an American company in Hsinchu, Taiwan's semiconductor hub. The offer included a $120,000 salary, nearly double the industry average, which helped pay for his children's private education. However, he soon discovered that he only interacted with Chinese team members and had no contact with American counterparts.
In August 2021, Taiwanese authorities raided the company, claiming it illegally operated by disguising its Chinese ownership behind a locally registered business with the same name. The Taiwan operation was subsequently shut down. The engineer alleged that he was misled about the company's American backing. Blue Ocean Smart System in Nanjing did not respond to requests for comment.
According to Taiwan's Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau, 166 cases were investigated for concealing ties to China over the past six years, with 67 China-related trade-secret probes completed in the same period.
Written by urgent.news from Rest of World's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
