Taiwan’s Department of Justice Investigation Bureau dropped details from a multi-year probe into Beijing’s alleged poaching racket. According to the Bureau, these shadow operations violate strict rules that block Chinese outfits from investing in or hiring from Taiwan’s tech treasure trove.

At the centre of it all is Yunhe Zhiwang (Shanghai) Technology Co —a chipmaker allegedly fuelling China’s "Data East, Compute West" strategy. That scheme involves packing five million racks of silicon muscle into Western China’s data centres while keeping low-latency jobs in the East.

To hide its Chinese connections, Yunhe Zhiwang operated through a Singaporean shell. It reportedly managed to snare engineers from both Troubled Chipzilla and the Software King of the World, Microsoft.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, Beijing’s largest silicon supplier and a familiar name on the US entity list of shady actors. SMIC allegedly ran its covert Taiwan op via a Samoan smokescreen, nabbing local chip talent while dodging diplomatic blowback. Given Uncle Sam’s hissy fits over SMIC, this one’s likely to spark a few furious memos in Washington.

Shenzhen Tongrui Microelectronics Technology allegedly faked it so well that Taiwan’s own Ministry of Industry and Information Technology ended up giving it a gold star and a commendation.

Now, prosecutors in seven Taiwanese cities are investigating 11 firms they suspect are Beijing’s proxies. The fear is that Taiwan’s best minds might be building tech that helps China tip the balance—either economically or, in a more sinister twist, militarily.

With chipmaking forming the bedrock of Taiwan’s economy, these revelations hit like a punch to the fab. If China’s outfits continue to scoop up talent, Taiwan could soon be helping build the very technology used to annex it.