Economic warfare against tech sector: Taiwan bans recruitment for jobs in China to combat brain drain
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Taiwan is home to a thriving and world-leading semiconductor industry, used in everything from fighter jets to cars, and the government has long worried about China's efforts to copy that success, including by industrial espionage and other underhand methods.
Taiwan has told staffing companies to remove all listings for jobs in China, a drastic move to prevent the outflow of vital tech talent to the mainland amid rising tensions between Taipei and Beijing.
The Labor Ministry said that all Taiwanese and foreign staffing companies on the island as a general rule may no longer post openings for jobs located in China, especially those involving critical industries such as integrated circuits and semiconductors, according to a notice seen by Nikkei Asia.
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Taiwan government has asked the companies to remove all recruitment listings for jobs in China, to prevent the outflow of vital tech talent to the mainland.
According to a notice seen by Nikkei Asia, the Labor Ministry said that all Taiwanese and foreign staffing companies on the island as a general rule may no longer post openings for jobs located in China, especially those involving critical industries such as integrated circuits and semiconductors.
Taiwan's government on April 28th accused China of waging economic warfare against the Chinese-claimed island's tech sector by stealing technology and enticing away engineers, as parliament considers strengthening legislation to prevent this.
Taiwan is home to a thriving and world-leading semiconductor industry, used in everything from fighter jets to cars, and the government has long worried about China's efforts to copy that success, including by industrial espionage and other underhand methods.
Four Taiwanese lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party are leading a proposal to amend the commercial secrets law to widen the scope of what is considered a secret and toughen penalties.
Taiwan's Economy Ministry, in its report, said China was trying to boost its semiconductor industry by "poaching" Taiwanese talent "as well as obtaining our country's industry's commercial secrets, to harm the country's competitiveness".
In recent weeks, China has increased military pressure on Taiwan by conducting aircraft carrier drills near the island. China claims Taiwan as its territory and has historically not shied from advocating taking it by force.
(With inputs from agencies)