Taiwan Seeks Arrest of OnePlus CEO Over Illegal Hiring Claims
Synopsis
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau is accused of illegal poaching by Taiwanese prosecutors, who are seeking his arrest for luring away more than 70 engineers at a secret branch office in Taipei. The report claims the Chinese phonemaker bypassed the Cross-Strait Act by using a Hong Kong shell company to prop up local research operations with a $72 million cash injection. The move is the latest in Taiwan’s escalating crackdown on Chinese “talent poaching” that it says threatens the island’s high-tech industry by unauthorized technology transfers and risks to national security.
BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: Prosecutor Kuan-tai Ma has issued a warrant for the arrest of Pete Lau, CEO and founder of Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus (as per sources). On Wednesday January 14, 2026, the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office charged Lau of operating an illegal business and recruiting high-technology personnel in Taiwan without permission from the Government.
The investigation alleges that OnePlus hid behind a “shell company” in Hong Kong to disguise its identity and established an undercover satellite office in Taiwan as early as 2015. Through this unadvertised office, the company is said to have employed over 70 Taiwanese engineers to test and develop software for its mobile phones.
Why the Hires Are Deemed Illegal
Taiwan has strict laws, known as the Cross-Strait Act, that govern how companies from mainland China can operate on the island. Chinese companies are not allowed to open offices or hire local employees in Taiwan unless they receive official permission from the government, due to continued political tensions between the two sides.
Prosecutors say OnePlus attempted to ignore those rules in order to lay its hands on some of Taiwan’s vaunted tech expertise. In order to finance the operation, it is said that between 2015 and 2021, the company shifted more than US$72 million (about NT$2.3 billion) from China into its Taiwan branch. That money was funneled into paying very high salaries in an effort to recruit top engineers, many of whom are talent with the hardware and software that powers modern smartphones.
An Expanding Crackdown on Tech “Poaching”
This arrest warrant is just one part of a much broader push by Taiwan to safeguard its high-tech industry. Taiwan is home to some of the world’s most sophisticated computer chips and smartphone hardware, and authorities fear that Chinese companies are attempting to steal this “know-how” by poaching their personnel.
Last year, for the same illegal actions, 16 Chinese companies were being probed. They discovered that many businesses used pseudonyms or registered themselves in locations such as Hong Kong to make it appear that they did not hail from mainland China. Taiwan has so far launched more than 100 investigations of such illegal hiring to keep crucial technology from seeping out of the country.
What This Means for OnePlus
Pete Lau is currently in China, and there’s no sign he’ll step foot into Taiwan, let alone get arrested while doing so but the warrant makes him a “wanted” person even if he’s in the eyes of Taiwanese law. Two Taiwanese citizens who helped to run the secret office have also been indicted, along with the warrant for Lau.
OnePlus, a well-regarded brand that makes high-quality phones and is owned by the technology giant Oppo, has said nothing about any impact to its business. But the lawsuit underscores how it is getting harder for Chinese tech companies to thrive in Taiwan as security concerns loom larger.
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At Inspirepreneurs Magazine, covering entrepreneurship, business failures, and the human stories behind the world's most ambitious founders. She writes at the intersection of strategy and storytelling.
