The Chinese Communist Party ‘s law called The National Intelligence Law requires that all Chinese businesses and citizens operating overseas including in the United States must gather sensitive uinformation from host countries and their companies and to providfe it to the Chinese Government. Effectively, China has activated all Chinese persons and companies in the US to spy for the state.
Targets in recent years have included artificial intelligence to car manufacture, but involve only a tiny fraction of the Chinese-born employees in the U.S. The FBI has been warning of the problem for at least a decade.” As of March 2024, the DOJ charged California-based Chinese national Linwei Ding with stealing sensitive artificial intelligence (AI) technology from Google. The FBI raided Ding’s home in January 2024 and allegedly found “more than 500 unique files containing Google Confidential Information.” Much of it related to a Google’s “supercomputer capable of executing at the cutting edge of machine learning and AI technology,” according to a subsequent indictment.
In the past three years, the DOJ has brought charges against or convicted U.S.-based Chinese nationals with intellectual property theft of electric vehicle technology, silicon carbide semiconductor technology, automotive manufacturing equipment, and source code for autonomous vehicle technoloIn 2019, the FBI produced a guide for U.S. businesses titled, China – The Risk To Corporate America, in which it says that China first plots what technology it needs before figuring out how to steal it from foreign companies. It adds that there were then up to 100 plans in place to copy foreign technology.
“To achieve its strategic goals, China relies on various state-directed plans. These plans provide insight into the kinds of intellectual property and trade secrets the country targets and seeks to acquire from foreign sources.At present, China’s government has as many as 100 plans guiding China’s foreign acquisition in science and technology, and their scale and influence are impressive. Two of the most important among these plans include the 13th Five-Year Plan and the Made in China 2025 Plan.”
China and other adversaries are actively seeking to disrupt the U.S. defense industrial base, the head of U.S. Cyber Command warned June 25.
Air Force Gen. Timothy D. Haugh said the People’s Republic of China is “engaging thousands of intelligence, military, and commercial personnel” to steal U.S. intellectual property and disrupt defense firms business processes. Speaking at the 2024 AFCEA TechNet Cyber conference, Haugh cited Volt Typhoon, a Chinese hacking enterprise, for moves to infiltrate critical industries. China has long sought to harvest U.S. defense companies’ expertise. In 2019, then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper accused China of “perpetrating the greatest intellectual property theft in human histor,” while other experts have long suggested that the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s premier J-20 fighter jet incorporates numerous stolen design secrets.
U.S. intelligence officials told senators working on a biotech security bill that Chinese pharmaceutical firm WuXi AppTec had transferred U.S. intellectual property to Beijing without consent, according to two sources. Our Government is concerned that certain Chinese biotech companies are contributing technology or research and development for use by China’s military, and the proposed legislation would restrict U.S. government funds going to those Chinese companies. ‘BIOSECURITY THREATS’
The February briefing occurred days before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs voted to advance the proposed bill.
The Biotechnology Innovation Organization, which lobbies for companies in the sector, initially opposed the inclusion in the legislation of WuXi AppTec and others.
But by mid-March, under pressure from U.S. lawmakers, BIO reversed its opposition to the bill, citing U.S. national security, and said its member WuXi AppTec had ended its ties to the lobby group.
Around the same time as the briefing, the Biden administration unveiled an executive order barring genomic and other data transfers to China over national security concerns.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence warned in its annual threat assessment in February that Beijing was trying to fast track its science and technology development through IP theft and other means for economic and miltary benefits to China.
Jeff Newman JD MBA, represents whistleblowers nationwide relating to Chinese companies in the US stealing information here for the Chinese Government and corporate whistleblowers in major claims under the SEC, CFTC and FINCEN whistleblower programs. He can be reached at Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com or at 617-823-3217
