China syndromeFormer L-3 employee guilty of selling weapon secrets to China

Sixing Liu convicted of selling classified technology to China // Source: vntime.vn

A federal court judge in Newark, New Jersey convicted Sixing Liu (AKA Steve Liu) on six counts of violating the Arms Export Control Act as well as possessing stolen trade secrets, transporting stolen property, and lying to federal agents.

Liu is was convicted of stealing thousands of electronic files detailing performance and design of guidance systems for missiles, rockets, target locators, and unmanned aerial vehicles in 2010.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that according to prosecutors, Liu, who lived in Flanders, New Jersey and is a Chinese citizen, gave presentations about the technology he stole at several Chinese universities and at government conferences in order to gain future employment.

Liu faces twenty years in prison and a one million dollar fine for violating export restrictions applying to arms.

“We will not tolerate the exploitation of this country’s opportunities through the theft of our secrets.” U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman told the Chronicle in a statement.

James Tunick, one of Liu’s attorneys, said his client plans to appeal the conviction. “It was our contention that he didn’t do anything with a state of mind to be criminal,” Tunick told the Chronicle in a phone interview. “The jury rejected that contention.”

Sentencing has been scheduled for 7 January 2013. Liu was taken into custody after the verdict because of fear that he would flee, according to the government.,

Jennifer Barton, a spokesman for L-3, told the Chronicle that the company is happy with the verdict. “L-3 has fully cooperated with authorities throughout the investigation and we continue to have comprehensive policies and protocols in place to ensure the highest level of security is observed by all employees.”

Ming Suan Shang was also charged in federal court in Brooklyn, New York for violation U.S. trade restrictions.

Zhang is accused of attempting illegally to export thousands of pounds of aerospace-grade carbon fiber to China. The government alleged that Shang was involved in a multimillion-dollar deal to ship the material for possible use in the testing of a new Chinese fighter jet.

Zhang has not requested bail and prosecutors declined to comment on where and when Zhang was arrested; he faces up to twenty years in prison if convicted.

The Department of Commerce says it restricts the export of goods that could contribute to the “military potential or nuclear proliferation of other nations or that could be detrimental to the foreign policy or national security of the U.S.” 

Daniel Nobel, a court-appointed lawyer for Zhang, told the Chronicle that Zhang is “an honest business man who was caught in something he didn’t fully understand, but something he believed to be legal.”

Nobel would not discuss the circumstances of the case, saying the “government regards it to be a somewhat sensitive matter.”

Zhang came to the attention of U.S. authorities through an investigation on two other individuals in Taiwan who tried to locate large amounts of the carbon fiber, according to the government.

Prosecutors have a recorded phone call in July, in which one of the individuals discussed the order of the carbon fiber with the Zhang who was recorded during the call saying “When I place the order, I place one to two tons.”

Zhang later agreed to meet with an undercover HMS agent posing as a carbon fiber seller. Zhang told the HMS agent he needed a sample because it would be used in the test flight of a “fighter plane.”

“The defendant allegedly tried to break laws that protect our national security by preventing specialized technologies from falling into the wrong hands,” U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch in Brooklyn told the Chronicle in a statement. “We will use every tool at our disposal to protect the homeland and give teeth to the laws that maintain our technological superiority on the battlefield and in the skies.”