According to the US Justice Department, a Chinese intelligence officer was convicted of plotting to steal secrets from aviation companies by a US jury. It was found that Xu Yanjun had committed economic espionage and theft of trade secrets on five counts. It is possible that he could serve up to 60 years in prison and pay fines of more than $5 million (£3.7 million). Xu was first arrested in Belgium in 2018 and maybe the first Chinese agent extradited to the US for trial.
No public comment has been made by the Chinese authorities on Friday’s verdict. The Chinese government has previously denied these accusations, saying they have no basis. In a statement, the US Justice Department describes Xu as a senior member of China’s Jiangsu branch of the Ministry of State Security, which is responsible for counterintelligence, foreign intelligence, and internal security. Employees at numerous companies, including those based in the United States, have allegedly been targeted by Xu since 2013.
As an example, he arranged for a GE Aviation employee to travel to China in 2017 to give a presentation at a university, paying for their travel expenses and stipend. Xu asked the expert for information on ‘system specifications, design processes’ the following year. In co-operation with the FBI, the company employee sent Xu a two-page document labeled as having sensitive information. Xu later requested a copy of the file directory for the employee’s work-issued computer.
Also, he attempted to arrange to meet the employee in Belgium, resulting in his arrest. ‘For those who doubt the real goals of [China], this should be a wake-up call. They steal American technology to benefit their economy and military,’ said FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler. The charges come at a time of rising tension between the two countries – with China recently testing a new form of a hypersonic missile, and US President Joe Biden pledging to defend Taiwan from invasion. CNN reports that CIA Director Bill Burns described China as the greatest technological threat facing the United States. In July, he pledged that the CIA would step up its efforts in the country.
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