Engineers from Taiwan bolstered China’s chip industry. Now they’re leaving.

TAIPEI: Taiwan: The job offer from a Chinese semiconductor company was appealing. A higher salary. Work trips to explore new technologies.

No matter that it would be less prestigious for Kevin Li than his job in Taiwan at one of the world’s leading chipmakers. Li eagerly moved to northeast China in 2018, taking part in a wave of corporate migration as the Chinese government moved aggressively to build up its semiconductor industry.

He went back to Taiwan after two years, as COVID-19 swept through China and global tensions intensified. Other highly skilled Taiwanese engineers are going home, too.