On January 14, 2026, according to reports from Epoch Times, the well-known Chinese mobile phone brand “OnePlus”, operated by the Shenzhen-based company, OnePlus, has been accused of illegally recruiting over seventy engineers in Taiwan through its Taiwan office since 2014. The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office filed charges against two Taiwanese executives on the 13th and issued a warrant for the arrest of OnePlus founder Liu Zuohu.
The indictment from the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office stated that Liu Zuohu visited Taiwan at the end of 2014 to discuss setting up a mobile software development team in Taiwan with a man surnamed Lin. Without proper authorization, Lin began recruiting employees for OnePlus in Taiwan based on Liu’s instructions, hiring over seventy R&D engineers for OnePlus to carry out mobile software application development, verification, testing, and other business activities in Taiwan.
The indictment also mentioned that Liu, along with a woman surnamed Zheng and the aforementioned Lin, conspired to establish “OnePlus Hong Kong Company” in Hong Kong in March 2014 and its Taiwan branch company, “OnePlus Technology Co., Ltd. Taiwan Branch”, in March of the following year, with Zheng acting as the responsible person. Later in May 2019, the companies were renamed as “Sound Consultancy Limited” and “Sound Taiwan Branch Company”.
The prosecution further revealed that between August 2015 and January 2021, OnePlus, through channels such as “Hong Kong Dasheng International Trade Company”, imported over 72.93 million US dollars to Sound Taiwan Branch Company in Taiwan under the guise of income from “commissioning R&D and selling R&D results assets”, as operational funds for activities including recruiting employees in Taiwan, issuing employee salaries, and purchasing equipment.
During the trial, Zheng, listed as the responsible person, claimed that she was only a nominal responsible person responsible for tax planning, had no knowledge of the company’s operations, and did not receive a salary. Whereas Lin admitted that he was appointed as the R&D manager by Liu Zuohu and was responsible for interviewing and leading the team; the operational direction of Sound Taiwan Branch Company was all decided by Liu.
The prosecution concluded that Zheng and Lin assisted a Chinese company in conducting business activities in Taiwan, and on the 13th, formally filed charges under the Taiwan Relations Act between Taiwan and mainland China. As the key suspect, Liu Zuohu, did not appear, the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office has officially issued a warrant for his arrest.