A Chinese intelligence officer has been convicted by a US jury of conspiracy to steal secrets from airlines, according to the US Department of Justice.
Xu Yanjun was found guilty of five counts of financial espionage and trade secret theft. According to a BBC report, he faces up to 60 years in prison and fines of more than $ 5 million (3, 3.7 million). Xu was first arrested in Belgium in 2018 and is probably the first Chinese agent to be extradited to the US for trial. . Chinese authorities have not publicly commented on Friday’s verdict. Beijing had previously denied the allegations, saying there was no basis for the allegations.
According to a statement from the US Department of Justice, Xu is a senior member of the Jiangsu branch of China’s Ministry of State Security – a department responsible for counterintelligence, foreign intelligence and internal security. The same post points out that Xu was accused of targeting employees in many companies based in the US, including other countries at least since 2013.
In one case, he arranged for a GE Aviation employee to travel to China in 2017 to give a presentation at a university. The following year, Xu asked the information specialist for “system specifications, design process.” In collaboration with the company – which worked with the FBI – the employee emailed Xu a two-page document indicating that he had sensitive information. Xu later asked the employee to send a copy of the file directory to the computer At the same time, he tried to arrange to meet the clerk in Belgium, and was eventually arrested.
“For those who are skeptical of China’s real goals, this should be a sign that they are waking up,” said FBI Assistant Director Alan Kohler. “They are stealing American technology to benefit their economy and their military,” he said.
The accusations come at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries – with China recently testing a new type of supersonic missile and US President Joe Biden pledging to protect Taiwan from any Chinese military invasion.
According to CNN, CIA Director Bill Burns described China as the biggest technological threat to the United States. He said last month that the spy agency would step up its efforts against China.
bbc.com
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