Taiwan Targets OnePlus Founder Pete Lau with Arrest Warrant in Broad Crackdown on Tech Poaching
Shilin District prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for OnePlus founder Pete Lau, signaling an aggressive new phase in Taipei’s campaign to plug technology leaks to mainland China. The warrant follows a multi-year investigation into allegations that OnePlus systematically bypassed local labor laws to recruit more than 70 Taiwanese engineers, building a shadow R&D hub to bolster its hardware capabilities.
Alongside the warrant for Lau, prosecutors indicted two Taiwanese nationals—identified as Lin and Cheng—who allegedly facilitated the local operations. The legal volley underscores a sharpening of Taiwan’s defensive posture, aimed at preventing high-level semiconductor and hardware expertise from being funneled into the mainland through back-channel hiring practices.
The ‘Sonar’ Shell: A Clandestine R&D Pipeline
The indictment details a sophisticated effort to circumvent Taiwan’s regulatory framework. Prosecutors allege that Lau conspired with local associates as early as March 2014 to establish a Hong Kong-based entity under the OnePlus name, which then registered a Taiwan branch in 2015 to serve as a research hub.
As scrutiny on Chinese tech firms intensified, the operation allegedly went underground. In May 2019, the "OnePlus" name was scrubbed from local registrations and replaced with "Sonar." Despite the rebranding, the facility continued to function as a dedicated R&D arm for the Chinese smartphone maker. To sustain this unauthorized presence, OnePlus reportedly funneled more than NT$2.3 billion (approximately US$72.93 million) into the branch between 2015 and 2021. Prosecutors claim these funds were laundered through a Hong Kong trading company and masked as "revenue from commissioned R&D" or the "sale of assets" to cover salaries and purchase high-end laboratory equipment.
The Cross-Strait Act and the War for Silicon
This case is less a matter of administrative non-compliance and more a flashpoint in a broader battle for technological sovereignty. Under the Cross-Strait Act, Chinese companies are strictly prohibited from establishing R&D centers or hiring local talent for sensitive roles without explicit government approval.
For Taipei, the "raiding" of talent represents a clear threat to national security. The focus isn't just on headcount, but on the specific intellectual property at risk—particularly SoC (System on Chip) integration, RF front-end modules, and power management—areas where Taiwanese expertise remains world-leading. This warrant follows the precedent set by recent high-profile raids on firms like Bitmain, signaling that the Shilin District Prosecutors Office is no longer content with fining local subsidiaries and is now targeting C-suite executives directly.
Geopolitical Blowback for the Oppo Empire
The warrant places Pete Lau in significant legal jeopardy just as his influence within the broader BBK Electronics ecosystem is at its peak. Known for an "obsession with quality" that defined the early OnePlus brand, Lau’s reputation for meticulous engineering now stands in sharp contrast to the clandestine, shell-company tactics described in the indictment.
Since Lau took on a broader leadership role at Oppo to oversee the "Oppo-fication" of OnePlus, the legal fallout could hamper the parent company’s global expansion. As Oppo attempts to compete with Apple and Samsung in premium markets, a fugitive CEO and allegations of secret funding channels create a massive compliance headache for Western partners and carriers.
While OnePlus has issued a terse statement claiming "operations continue as usual," the warrant effectively ends Lau’s ability to visit Taiwan or any jurisdiction with a favorable extradition treaty with Taipei. With the NT$2.3 billion money trail now fully exposed, the case serves as a stark warning to other Chinese tech giants: the "back-channel" era of Taiwanese recruitment has ended, replaced by a legal environment where the risks of poaching now include international arrest warrants.