Man indicted for running unregistered office for Chinese chip firm

Taipei, Oct. 1 (CNA) Prosecutors in Taipei on Thursday indicted a man for allegedly operating an unregistered office for a Chinese semiconductor firm, seeking an 18-month prison sentence.

In a statement, the Taipei District Prosecutors Office said Lin Hao-yuan (林浩原), who headed Lontium Semiconductor Corp.'s Taipei office, was charged with violating the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.

Under Article 40-1 of the law, Chinese companies are prohibited from conducting business in Taiwan unless they have approval from the relevant authorities and have already legally established a branch or liaison office here.

Prosecutors said the company, based in Hefei, Anhui Province, China, had previously established an office in Taipei's Neihu District in 2012, but its board decided in January 2015 to close it down. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs approved the closure later that month.

However, as its business expanded, Lontium Chairman Chen Feng (陳峰) instructed Lin in July 2024 to rent an office in Taipei's Zhongshan District to serve as its Taiwan operating base, prosecutors said.

Without prior authorization, the company allegedly headhunted high-tech engineers to conduct chip research and development, testing and technical services in Taiwan, prosecutors said.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said, without providing further details, that they had also issued a wanted notice for Chen.

Lontium was among 16 Chinese tech companies investigated by the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau in August last year for allegedly setting up offices in Taiwan and hiring local staff without authorization.