Taiwan wants to arrest OnePlus CEO

Prosecutors in Taiwan issued an arrest warrant for the chief executive officer of Chinese smartphone company OnePlus, stepping up efforts to stem potential losses of technology and talent to a geopolitical foe. The Shilin district prosecutors’ office said it issued the warrant for CEO and co-founder Pete Lau, one of the Chinese mobile industry’s more prominent figures and a regular public pitchman for industry leader Oppo. Prosecutors also indicted two Taiwanese citizens who worked for Lau and accused OnePlus of illegally recruiting more than 70 engineers across the island since 2014.The move was the latest in a series of actions that underscore Taipei’s growing resolve to counter China’s tech industry, while wielding its own technological prowess to gain influence. In 2025, Taiwan threatened to bar chip shipments to South Africa, sued Tokyo Electron Ltd. for failing to prevent alleged intellectual property theft, and launched a probe into whether a new Intel Corp. hire stole trade secrets from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Efforts to prevent the poaching of Taiwan’s talent and outflow of intellectual property appear to have intensified since President Lai Ching-te took office in 2024. In September, prosecutors issued a warrant based on similar grounds for Luxshare Precision Industry Co. chair Grace Wang, taking aim at a prominent Chinese iPhone assembler. Lau and his two employees are accused of violating the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area. He’s one of the better-known founders in China’s tech industry, respected for an obsession with quality that helped make OnePlus a global player. He plays a pivotal role also at Oppo’s phone launches as its chief product officer. The executive didn’t respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment. OnePlus provided a statement that said its business operations continue as normal and remain unaffected. Taiwan justice ministry representatives didn’t respond to requests for comment Wednesday.Taiwan has become a favorite recruitment spot for China because the two share a language and the island is home to some of the world’s best tech talent. In response, Taipei has erected restrictions and safeguards particularly for its world-leading semiconductor industry, citing national security. For instance, it doesn’t allow Chinese companies to set up local operations or hire locally without formal government approval. Still, there’ve been many cases of Chinese companies setting up facilities in Taiwan and posing as foreign or local firms. Last year, Taiwanese investigators raided 34 locations as part of a probe into the recruiting practices of 11 Chinese tech companies, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau said at the time that SMIC had set up a branch in Taiwan, disguised as a Samoan entity, to hire local staff.