Two men have been handed suspended sentences after being found guilty of illegally recruiting personnel for a Chinese technology company in Taiwan, the Hsinchu District Court said yesterday.
A man surnamed Huang (黃) received a jail term of six months, suspended for two years, and was ordered to pay NT$360,000, while another man, identified as Hsu (許), was sentenced to three months in jail, suspended for two years, and ordered to pay NT$200,000.
The court found the two guilty of contravening the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (台灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), which stipulates that Chinese companies or “third-area” subsidiaries are not allowed to “engage in business activities” unless permitted by the competent authorities.
Photo: Taipei Times
Among the activities they cannot engage in under the provision are sales, research and development, and recruiting.
The sentences can be appealed.
According to the ruling, issued on May 10, Huang was approached by a Chinese national surnamed Wu (吳) to serve as general manager and vice president of two affiliates in Taiwan of Shanghai-based Mindmotion Microelectronics, a company managed by Wu.
The court found that Wu and Huang collaborated to establish the two companies in Jhubei City (竹北) in 2017 and recruited research-and-development personnel for developing microprocessing units, with the help of a US national who was not aware that China-based companies were not allowed to engage in such activities.
Because Huang knew that the two Mindmotion affiliates could be investigated by law enforcement authorities for illegally operating in Taiwan, he quit his job at one of them in 2022, a position that was later filled by Hsu, while dissolving the other company, court documents said.
The Hsinchu District Prosecutors’ Office has placed Wu on its wanted list.
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