Chinese man jailed for illegally exporting US military equipment

A Chinese national convicted of illegally exporting military electronics components to a China has been jailed for eight years by a US court, providing further evidence of China’s military espionage activities. Zhen Zhou Wu, 46, made multiple visits to the US to buy components used in radars and missile systems which he then exported to China via Hong Kong using forged papers to evade the US arms embargo to China imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square killings.

Chinese man jailed for illegally exporting US military equipment

He is the second Chinese to be sentenced in America this week for illegally transferring military technology to China after a 66-year-old former B-2 Stealth Bomber engineer was jailed for 32 years for selling military secrets to be used in the development of a Chinese cruise missile. A US Congressional commission on US-China affairs warned in 2009 that Chinese spying in American was becoming increasingly aggressive and “growing in scale, intensity and sophistication.” Earlier this month China unveiled its first stealth fighter, the Chengdu J-20, which analysts at Jane’s, the defence specialists, say is based on a mix of Russian and American technology, including possible elements of the Lockheed YF-22 and the Northrop YF-23.

David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said Zhen’s convictions showed the importance of safefuarding American technology from “illicit” foreign procurement. "They also serve as a warning to those who seek to covertly obtain technological materials from the US in order to advance military systems of their own. I applaud the many agents, analysts and prosecutors who helped bring about this successful outcome,” he added after the verdict was released last year.

Zhen’s sentencing comes just days after China’s president Hu Jintao completed a state visit to American which analysts billed as chance to “re-set” US-China relations that have become severely strained over the past year. China has persistently claimed it intends to have a “peaceful rise”, however the US has expressed growing concerns that China’s rapid military modernization - including developing new fighters, an aircraft carrier and a carrier-killing missile - appears at-odds with that stated policy.Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a speech in Washington last June of a wide gap between China’s stated intent and its military programs. “I have moved from being curious to being genuinely concerned,” he added.

The court heard that Zhen had set up a company, Chitron Electronics Ltd, in Waltham, Massachusetts to procure and export the components used in electronic warfare, military radar, fire control, guidance and control equipment, missile systems, and satellite communications. By 2007 more than 25 per cent of Chitron’s illegal exports were being passed to a number of state-owned Chinese corporations charged with the procurement, development and manufacture of electronics for the Chinese military. “This defendant and corporation violated US export laws and compromised our national security for more than a decade,” said US Attorney Carmen Ortiz.