Belgian prosecutors are investigating a former semiconductor researcher suspected of shifting valuable gallium nitride chip secrets to a Chinese company.
According to AP, the 52-year-old man, who holds Belgian and Chinese nationality, worked in a senior research role at Belgian semiconductor outfit BelGaN. Authorities arrested him at Brussels Zaventem Airport on 10 May 2026 as he prepared to fly to Beijing. He has remained in pre-trial detention.
Prosecutors are investigating suspected espionage, participation in a criminal organisation, misuse of company assets and unlawful disclosure of trade secrets. The case centres on intellectual property covering the production of gallium nitride, or GaN, semiconductors.
GaN chips are important in electric vehicles because they can switch power efficiently at high voltages and frequencies. The technology has applications well beyond cars, including satellites, radar systems, aerospace equipment and electronic warfare.
BelGaN was based in Oudenaarde and specialised in GaN semiconductor manufacturing before going bankrupt on 31 July 2024. The collapse affected more than 400 workers. Belgian investigators suspect the researcher simultaneously acted as a director of a Chinese company involved in similar semiconductor manufacturing.
According to prosecutors, that company was established only a few months after the suspect joined BelGaN and was financed by a Chinese investment fund. Investigators are examining whether specialised intellectual property and trade secrets concerning GaN chip production were unlawfully transferred from Belgium to the Chinese operation.
Belgian federal prosecutors said: “The investigation may point to the unlawful transfer abroad of specialised intellectual property and trade secrets relating to the production of gallium nitride chips.”
Authorities have carried out searches and seized data-storage devices and communications equipment for examination. A second suspect connected with the investigation remains at large.
The detained researcher was born in Beijing but lives in Belgium and denies the allegations. BelGaN had a long history before its collapse. The Oudenaarde operation had previously been associated with AMI Semiconductor and ON Semiconductor before becoming BelGaN.
The company’s failure had already drawn scrutiny from Belgian authorities before the espionage investigation became public. Its semiconductor technology has particular strategic value because GaN devices can offer advantages over traditional silicon in high-power and high-frequency applications. Those properties have made GaN increasingly useful for power conversion, communications, electric transport and defence electronics.
The investigation arrives as European governments become increasingly twitchy about losing sensitive semiconductor technology outside the bloc, particularly where hardware has both civilian and military uses.
