China syndromeChinese government funds research based on stolen U.S. trade secrets

Published 2 September 2010

Chinese national, Kexue Huang, charged with economic espionage involving theft of trade secrets from Dow AgroSciences, a leading U.S. agricultural company; Huang published an article without Dow’s authorization through Hunan Normal University (HNU) in China, which contained Dow trade secrets; the article was based on work supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), an agency of the Chinese government

China on the rise...by any means // Source: liverpoolchamberblog.org

China is moving on two parallel tracks to reach the coveted position of global economic hegemony. The first track is education. China invests heavily in its educational system, putting special emphasis on mathematics and engineering programs. In the United States, on the other hand, college tuition fees rise, student loans become more difficult to obtain, the number of math and engineering graduates in U.S. colleges and universities decline, and high school districts are mired in expensive legal battles over whether or not to teach evolution. Here is a short list of the results of these trends: U.S. colleges do not graduate enough math and engineering students to satisfy the needs of U.S. high-tech industry, which no relies more and more on foreign nationals who come here on work visas; Chinese scientists no publish more papers in refereed scientific journals than their American counterparts; Chinese researchers now register more patents for innovative inventions than American researchers do.

The second, parallel track on which China is relentlessly moving toward its hegemonic goals is vast, coordinated, and disciplined campaign of theft of intellectual property: China’s sprawling intelligence agencies work hand in hand with Chinese industry to steal industrial secrets and intellectual property of non-Chinese companies. Chinese leaders correctly figure that this industrial espionage campaign nicely complements their educational effort: education is for the long run, espionage is a short-cut to economic domination.

Here is the latest case. Kexue Huang, aka John, 45, has been arrested and charged in a 17-count indictment with economic espionage intended to benefit a foreign government and instrumentalities, and interstate and foreign transportation of stolen property, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Morrison for the Southern District of Indiana.

Huang was arrested on 13 July 2010, in Westborough, Massachusetts by FBI agents, and yesterday made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

 

According to the indictment, Huang is a Chinese national who was granted legal permanent resident status in the United States. The indictment alleges that Huang, formerly of Carmel, Indiana, misappropriated and transported trade secrets and property to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) while working as a research scientist at Dow AgroSciences LLC (Dow). While he was employed at Dow, he then directed university researchers in the PRC further to develop the Dow trade secrets. He also allegedly applied for and obtained grant funding that