OnePlus CEO faces prison sentence in Taiwan for recruiting local engineers
The OnePlus founder employed software developers in a Taiwanese subsidiary. However, Chinese companies are prohibited from doing so for security reasons.
Two older OnePlus smartphones (with Android 12)
(Image: OnePlus)
Prosecutors in Taiwan have issued an arrest warrant for OnePlus CEO and founder Pete Lau, as he is alleged to have illegally employed Taiwanese staff in a Chinese company. This violates the “Cross-Strait Act,” a Taiwanese law designed to protect the security of its population from Chinese influences. This includes curbing the recruitment of Taiwanese software developers by Chinese technology firms. At the same time, two Taiwanese citizens who worked as senior employees for the OnePlus boss in the local subsidiary have been indicted.
OnePlus is known for its smartphones with the OxygenOS operating system, which differs little from standard Android. Like Oppo and Realme, the brand belongs to the Chinese group BKK Electronics. In mid-2021, OnePlus merged with Oppo but remained an independent brand. The merger was intended to optimize operational processes and provide OnePlus with more resources. In parallel, OnePlus is said to have employed over 70 engineers in Taiwan who developed software for OnePlus and Oppo smartphones.
Taiwanese Employees Targeted by China's Tech Firms
According to the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in Taiwan's capital, Taipei, this violates the Cross-Strait Act, as reported by local media such as Taiwan News. This law is intended to prevent Chinese companies from poaching Taiwanese employees for their purposes. Due to the shared language and good education, Taiwan is a popular target for Chinese tech firms looking for employees. In early 2025, 34 locations of eleven companies in six cities were searched after Taiwan accused China of illegally poaching chip engineers for many years. However, this primarily concerned the semiconductor industry.
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In the current case, according to the Taiwanese prosecution, Pete Lau founded a company in Hong Kong under the OnePlus name in March 2014 together with two Taiwanese citizens and registered a branch in Taiwan a year later, writes CNA. The company names were subsequently changed from OnePlus to “Sonar” in May 2019. Between August 2015 and January 2021, according to prosecutors, OnePlus channeled the equivalent of over 62 million euros into the Taiwanese subsidiary via Hong Kong, declared as “revenue from contract research and development and from the sale of assets from research and development results.” This was used to recruit and pay employees in Taiwan and purchase equipment.
However, according to the Cross-Strait Act, Chinese companies are only permitted to do this with official approval. Therefore, the OnePlus CEO and his two Taiwanese managers have now been indicted. Pete Lau has not yet commented, but OnePlus stated to Bloomberg that business operations are continuing normally and are not affected.
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