Chinese man brought to U.S. to face economic-spy charges
A Chinese government spy has been transferred from Belgium to the United States to face prosecution on economic espionage charges, U.S. officials said Wednesday.
Yanjun Xu, a senior officer with the Ministry of State Security, is accused of seeking to steal trade secrets from leading defense aviation firms, top Justice Department officials said.
Current and former officials said this is believed to be the first time a Chinese government spy has been brought to the United States to face charges. U.S. law enforcement officials in recent years have faced criticism that indictments of foreign operatives are not likely to result in the defendants setting foot in a courtroom.
The announcement comes at a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has significantly ramped up its rhetoric against China amid a trade war and general worsening of relations between the world powers. Last week, Vice President Mike Pence accused Chinese security agencies of “mastermind[ing] the wholesale theft of American technology — including cutting-edge” military blueprints.
Justice Department officials said the indictment is but the latest example of China seeking to develop its economy at the expense of American companies and know-how.
“No one begrudges a nation that generates the most innovative ideas and from them develops the best technology,” Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Demers said. “But we cannot tolerate a nation stealing our firepower and the fruits of our brainpower. We will not tolerate a nation that reaps what it does not sow.”
Xu, also known as Qu Hui and Zhang Hui, was charged with conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies. The indictment was unsealed Wednesday — the same day he appeared in federal court in Cincinnati.
“This case shows that federal law enforcement agencies can not only detect and disrupt espionage, but can also catch its perpetrators,” said Benjamin Glassman, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio.
The Ministry of State Security is a civilian spy agency responsible for counterintelligence, foreign intelligence and domestic political security. It has also been implicated in a major hacking of a Navy contractor developing undersea warfare capabilities, including secret plans to build a supersonic anti-ship missile for use on U.S. submarines by 2020.
Xu is a deputy division director with the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security, a provincial arm of the ministry.
Beginning in December 2013 and continuing until his April 1 arrest in Belgium, Xu targeted experts working for aeronautics companies inside and outside the United States, including Cincinnati-based GE Aviation, officials said. GE Aviation has spent decades developing its unique jet engines and fan blades.
Xu recruited the experts to travel to China, often under the guise of asking them to deliver university presentations and passing himself off as an official with the Jiangsu Science and Technology Association.
Xu often exchanged information with individuals at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, one of the top engineering schools in China, according to court documents. The university has significant influence over China’s aerospace industry.
GE Aviation cooperated with the FBI early on in the investigation, which dates back more than a year, officials said.
Xu’s case is linked to the arrest last month of Ji Chaoqun, 27, a Chinese citizen living in Chicago, according to individuals familiar with the matter. Ji was accused of passing information on eight Americans to Chinese intelligence officers for possible recruitment.
Ji targeted individuals in science and tech industries, seven of whom worked for or recently retired from U.S. defense contractors, authorities said. All were naturalized U.S. citizens born in Taiwan or China.