China Woos Western Tech Talent in Race for Chip Supremacy

Chinese companies are aggressively recruiting foreign tech talent as a key strategy to gain technological supremacy, prompting national security concerns across Western nations and Asia, WSJ reported Wednesday, citing multiple intelligence officials and corporate sources. The campaign focuses particularly on advanced semiconductor expertise, with companies like Huawei offering triple salaries to employees at critical firms like Zeiss SMT and ASML, which produce essential components for cutting-edge chip manufacturing.

These recruitment efforts intensified after Western export controls restricted China's access to advanced technology. While Taiwan and South Korea have implemented strict countermeasures, including criminal penalties for illegal talent transfers, the U.S. and Europe struggle to balance open labor markets with national security concerns.

Chinese firms often obscure their origins through local ventures and persistent recruitment tactics. The strategy has shown results: Former employees have helped Chinese companies advance their technological capabilities, including SMIC's development of 7nm chips with help from ex-TSMC talent.

"national security" my arse!

[dwater]

What a load of balderdash. It's just a tactic to keep China from progressing and overtaking the USA. Nothing more.

The USA is pathetically insecure these days.

The Chinese will figure it out. Heck, in the case of TSMC, they already did.

Re:

[gweihir]

TSMC needs ASML equipment for its cutting-edge chip tech, correct.

Re:

[drinkypoo]

That is about 90% correct. The missing 10% is that ASML is a multinational corporation, with offices in sixteen countries, and technical employees living in even more nations than that. The equipment is AFAIK built in the Netherlands, but its design is internationally sourced.

Re:

[gweihir]

Indeed. Protectionism (and that is what this is, "national security" is just an obvious pretext) is usually the last stage before the ones doing it lose.

That said, unless the West wants to lose all moral superiority, they cannot stop people from accepting these offers. 3x the regular salary and likely a nicely protected status and all the help they want in moving is a _lot_ for an engineer or scientist. Good capitalist doctrine says that a) many should take it and b) they very much should be allowed to take

Re:

[gweihir]

Indeed. I am surprised they are surprised.

Re:

[vyvepe]

If it involves moving to China then only few people will take it. Once you get in China you many not be able to leave. You may be struck under CPP oversight until you die.

Re:

[gweihir]

China does not keep foreign citizens as hostages. Other countries may do it, but China does not.

Re:

[ShanghaiBill]

China does not keep foreign citizens as hostages.

Yes, they do.

Detention of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig [wikipedia.org]

Re: "national security" my arse!

[SuperDre]

That's total BS, I know multiple people who work in China, and they all say that it isn't by far as crap as many claim it to be, they go just about their business like they did in our own country.

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

and that is what this is, "national security" is just an obvious pretext

Correct.

Indeed. Protectionism is usually the last stage before the ones doing it lose.

That's just flatly incorrect, historically speaking.

That said, unless the West wants to lose all moral superiority

Agreed.

Re:

[haruchai]

"unless the West wants to lose all moral superiority"
over CHINA??
Western nations may be very far from angelic but that's setting the bar in the basement

Re:

[skam240]

The US is most definitely not the first nation to put trade restrictions in place to protect sensitive technology. I know the Brits were doing similar well over a century ago. It's hardly something that makes a nation "pathetic".

3x is not enough

[lamer01]

I'd go for 10x, at least make me filthy rich if I am to go work there...

Re: You're part of the problem

[SuperDre]

Another baseless claim. It probably is the US that won't you leave or steal your earned money when you try to go back.

Re:

[Baron_Yam]

What about WfH? I'd take Chinese money while living under Canadian law. I send them enough Canadian money for all the stuff I buy, it'd be nice to work on addressing the trade imbalance.

Obviously if I were top-tier engineering talent I'd have to worry about national security, but there's plenty of work they might want done that doesn't have to approach those lines.

Low pay in Eu

[iotaborg]

Great, let the global market sort out the actual value of engineers, who generate those $B for these companies. Europe, where ASML/Zeiss are headquartered, has ridiculously low engineering pay; US is already 3x for many of these roles. Laughable that an entry level engineer at these companies make what a McDonalds manager does in the US.

Re:

[DrMrLordX]

Does that apply to engineers as well?

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

Only one country in Europe has a higher median disposable income than the US (That includes healthcare costs, which are zero in the European country)
The economy of said country is heavily slanted toward "existing while rich".

Re:

[timeOday]

I'm dubious because the EU is rapidly falling behind the US:

In 2008, the eurozone and the US had equivalent gross domestic products (GDP) at current prices of $14.2 trillion and $14.8 trillion respectively (â13.1 trillion and â13.6 trillion). Fifteen years on, the eurozone's GDP is just over $15 trillion, while US GDP has soared to $26.9 trillion. As a result, the GDP gap is now 80%!

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opin... [lemonde.fr]

I get it, if you base everything on whiny articles and reddit posts you would

Hmm, maybe they'd be interested ...

[ClickOnThis]

... in this guy. [slashdot.org]

American Elite's Failure

[RossCWilliams]

The complaint used to be that China was cheating by not paying people enough, now apparently they are cheating by paying too much. The complete failure of the United States ruling elite is always someone else's fault. The focus in the United States on financial management rather than production is the real problem. We allowed the finance industry to export our manufacturing ability to China and they have run with it. As long as it was people in manufacturing losing their jobs that was just the price of pro

Re:

[DrMrLordX]

ASML and Zeiss aren't American companies.

Re:

[DamnOregonian]

No, but they're largely controlled by American rules because the EUV technology they license and manufacture is American.

Paying the door-welding premium

[RightwingNutjob]

Time was, young talent would be going to China because it was easy money and sort of a wild-west for oddball ideas.

I went to Shanghai about 10 years ago to visit and the architecture of the new construction rising above the commie-blocks looked like a design student's orgasm. Clearly someone somewhere always wanted to build a 100-storey skyscraper in the Greek classical style, but only in the China boom days did they get the chance.

Maybe the repression from the CCP could have been tolerated even to now had it stayed within the normal parameters. But then they started welding people into their houses, and that was too much even for the crowd that grew up with stories of the cultural revolution and the red guards.

James Bond

[TJHook3r]

I've seen what happens to the henchmen that work for evilcorp in their volcano headquarters!

Re: NDA fraud?

[SuperDre]

Much of those NDA's are illegal if they refrain you from using your experience. Yeah you can't use the exact designs you made for the other company, but you can sure as hell use your experience. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to change companies. Also, it's not like what you mention doesn't happen in the states.