![]() ![]() Much of the evidence against Xu came from a phone seized during his arrest. He brought photographs of the individual (Zheng) he was going to extort." "He was expecting to be aggressive in his activities to get that information. Xu was expecting to take home a treasure trove of information," Parker said. The former GE Aviation engineer convinced Xu to meet him in Belgium in April 2018. Attorney Emily Glatfelter questions former GE engineer David Zheng in the espionage trial of Yanjun Xu.įederal agents promised not to prosecute Zheng if he cooperated with their investigation, according to testimony presented at Xu's trial. He accepted an offer for a free trip to China in 2017 to present information about GE Aviation engines at the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, according to court recordsĬourtesy: Marlene Steele Assistant U.S. Zheng was born and raised in China, spoke fluent Mandarin and was an expert on aviation technology coveted by the Chinese. "We're serious about keeping counter espionage and counter intelligence a high priority threat for us."Ĭourt records show Chinese spies used LinkedIn to identify and initially contact Xu's target, former GE Aviation engineer David Zheng. William Rivers said Xu's sentencing was a "landmark achievement." The trial was here because it involved a crime committed against a local company, and local FBI agents conducted the investigation.Ĭincinnati FBI Special Agent in Charge J. Evidence obtained during the Cincinnati-based investigation provided rare insight into how Chinese spies operate and prompted additional criminal cases that involved Xu's contacts with targets in the U.S. Xu's arrest and conviction were reported around the world. government has done is use the legal system as a weapon" against China. "I'm just an ordinary Chinese citizen," Xu told United States District Court Judge Timothy Black. Prior to being sentenced, Xu read a written statement in Mandarin that was translated and read in English by his translator. The academic prosecutions and other signals suggest that may be shifting, however, as the legal structure and larger incentives are directed toward greater recognition of proprietary interests in academia.Courtesy: Marlene Steele Convicted Chinese spymaster Yanjun Xu listens to testimony with help from Mandarin interpreter during his trial in 2021Īt his trial last year, Xu, 42, was convicted of four counts Conspiracy to Commit Economic Espionage, Conspiracy to Commit Trade Secret Theft, Attempt to Commit Economic Espionage, Attempt to Commit Trade Secret Theft. Accordingly, this Article posits that while there is no de jure exceptionalism for universities when it comes to espionage, there may be de facto exceptionalism due to the lack of a proprietary culture that is typically at the heart of espionage cases. I theorize that this is because academia is grounded not in a culture of ownership, but of openness and sharing. Unlike in the corporate arena, there are fundamental questions surrounding the feasibility of prosecuting espionage in the university context. Even one district court judge in granting a lighter sentence to one professor observed that contrary to the prosecution’s framing, the case was not one of espionage. ![]() ![]() Most telling, although labelled as spies, not one of the professors was actually charged with economic espionage. ![]() Yet, my investigation and analysis of these cases reveals much ambiguity about the very concept of academic economic espionage. Since 2019, over a dozen high profile criminal prosecutions have put prominent professors at major research universities across the country in handcuffs and almost all the professors have been convicted of a crime. This geopolitical concern about espionage has had real world and personal consequences in academia. The DOJ’s grave concerns about espionage in academia have continued, and even more recently the Director of the FBI has lamented that American taxpayers are footing the bill for China’s technological development. In 2018 then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that Chinese espionage was occurring in university research labs, and the Department of Justice subsequently made it a high priority to prosecute economic espionage in academia. ![]()
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