Taipei [Taiwan], May 7 : Taiwan district court issued a verdict in April finding three Taiwanese nationals guilty of conducting business with a Chinese firm unauthorized by Taiwan's competent authority, Focus Taiwan reported.
According to the court, the individuals breached the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area by employing Taiwanese workers in unauthorised work for Beijing Tienmi Technology, a subsidiary of Beijing-based Xiaomi Corp.
The verdict highlighted that the subsidiary's Taiwan office was unlawfully involved in activities not sanctioned by Taiwanese authorities, such as developing mobile phone chips, as per Focus Taiwan.
To avoid Taiwan's investigation into the company's operations, Lin Bin, a co-founder of the Xiaomi Group, set up Yishing Technology Limited via one of the defendants, surnamed Yu (a former Xiaomi CFO), in 2019.
Another defendant surnamed Pan, (the CTO of Tienmi's Taiwan office) then transferred 24 research and developing staff from Tienmi's Taiwan office to Yishing, where they worked for Tienmi.
According to Focus Taiwan, upon learning of Yishing's impending investigation, Yu told Lin of his intention to dissolve the company. Following this, Lin facilitated the transfer of the research and development staff to Altek Semiconductor Corp. to continue their unauthorized activities.
Altek's acting general manager surnamed Hsia helped Pan set up an office in Taipei for the staff to work in, aware that the business conducted by the company was unlawful.
The Hsinchu District Court sentenced Hsia to six months, Yu to five months, and Pan to four months of imprisonment. However, all three sentences are suspended for two years and can be converted to fines. Hsia is also obligated to pay NT USD 200,000 (USD 6,181) to the treasury, while Yu and Pan must each pay NT USD 150,000 within a year.
An investigation into Lin by the Ministry of Justice's Investigation Bureau is ongoing, the court said.
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