Chinese Spy Extradited To Go On Trial

A man the US claims is a Chinese intelligence officer stood before a court on Wednesday 10th Oct, after being flown to the US from Belgium in an "unprecedented" extradition. He stands accused of trying to steal aviation technology and faces up to 25 years in jail.

With Washington settling its crosshairs on China as the new arch-enemy, an emerging spy scandal is certain to add color to the red scare, both amplifying its message and boosting the image of America's superiority in facing that challenge.

According to the US Department of Justice, Yanjun Xu, also known as Qu Hui and Zhang Hui, attempted to steal trade secrets from "multiple US aviation and aerospace companies." GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric and one of the world's leading engine suppliers for commercial aircraft, has been named as one of the targets.

Xu also "sought to steal trade secrets and other sensitive information from an American company that leads the way in aerospace," said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers.

The Chinese citizen is alleged to be a senior operative with the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the country's civilian spy agency specialising in counter-intelligence and foreign intelligence.

The alleged spy was arrested in Belgium on April 1 during an FBI sting operation coordinated with the Belgian authorities. Xu has been indicted on four counts of criminal charges that include conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage and theft of trade secrets. He appeared before a Cincinnati court on Wednesday, a day after his extradition. If found guilty, he faces a maximum sentence of 25 years behind bars.

Washington has a long history of snatching foreign citizens wanted in the US from overseas. However, this case stands out, as it is believed to be the first time a Chinese intelligence officer has been extradited from a third country to go on trial in the US.

FBI Counterintelligence Division Assistant Director Bill Priestap has called Xu's extradition to the US "unprecedented," adding that it "exposes [the] Chinese government's direct oversight of economic espionage against the United States."
The indictment states that from 2013 and up to his arrest, Xu would attract aviation companies' experts to China under the pretext of giving a lecture at a university. He would cover the experts' fees and pay them a stipend, while posing as an official with the Jiangsu Science and Technology Association.

Assistant Attorney General Demers said stealing other countries' tech and talent is basically how China develops.

"This case is not an isolated incident. It is part of an overall economic policy of developing China at American expense."
However, in line with every other recent China-related statement coming out of America, he promised the US will fight back.

"We cannot tolerate a nation's stealing our firepower and the fruits of our brainpower. We will not tolerate a nation that reaps what it does not sow."

The perceived threat to the US economic and military prowess coming from China appears to have completely overshadowed that of Russia, at least in the eyes of the intelligence and military community.

The news of Xu's extradition comes the same day that FBI Director Christopher Wray called China the "broadest, most complicated, most long-term threat" to the US interests. He referred in particular to Beijing's intention to get secret information on US trade, ideas and innovations.

Last week, a new Pentagon report named China as the number-one threat to the US military-industrial complex, arguing that Beijing was the most effective at targeting the US industry base. It alleged that China has been engaged in numerous legal and illicit activities, the latter including "espionage" and "cyber operations."

The growing animosity is exacerbated by the raging trade war started by US President Donald Trump earlier this year. As Washington slapped tariffs on billions worth of Chinese imports, Beijing held nothing back, responding with tit-for-tat measures. The trade dispute has now reached an impasse, and negotiations have stalled.

Trump on Tuesday said Washington had canceled "a couple of meetings" with Chinese trade representatives, claiming that China "is not ready to make a deal." He also reiterated that he would impose tariffs on an additional $267 billion worth of Chinese goods, if it slaps more tariffs on US imports in response to the previous $200 billion package.

RT.com:

You might Also Read:

Chinese Hackers Steal Naval Warfare Secrets:

Snowden Reveals that China Stole Plans For New F-35:

 

« Neither US Or UK  Investigated Chinese Spy Chips
Pentagon Weapons Systems Vulnerable To Cyber-Attacks »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Practice Labs

Practice Labs

Practice Labs is an IT competency hub, where live-lab environments give access to real equipment for hands-on practice of essential cybersecurity skills.

ZenGRC

ZenGRC

ZenGRC (formerly Reciprocity) is a leader in the GRC SaaS landscape, offering robust and intuitive products designed to make compliance straightforward and efficient.

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North Infosec Testing (North IT)

North IT (North Infosec Testing) are an award-winning provider of web, software, and application penetration testing.

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO Technology

XYPRO is the market leader in HPE Non-Stop Security, Risk Management and Compliance.

ManageEngine

ManageEngine

As the IT management division of Zoho Corporation, ManageEngine prioritizes flexible solutions that work for all businesses, regardless of size or budget.

Cyber Security Associates (CSA)

Cyber Security Associates (CSA)

Cyber Security Associates provides cyber consultancy and cyber managed services which help to detect, protect and educate against the ever-changing cyber threat.

BetterCloud

BetterCloud

BetterCloud puts IT in control of the modern workplace through user lifecycle management, data discovery, and IT and security automation purpose-built for SaaS.

Uppsala Security

Uppsala Security

Uppsala Security built the first crowdsourced Threat Intelligence platform known as the Sentinel Protocol, which is powered by blockchain technology.

OpSec Security

OpSec Security

OpSec Online is the only brand protection solution that spans all channels so your brands are protected no matter what digital venue the criminals target.

NanoVMs

NanoVMs

NanoVMs is the industry's only unikernel platform available today. NanoVMs runs your applications as secure, isolated virtual machines faster than bare metal installs.

White Hawk Software

White Hawk Software

White Hawk provides code tamper-proofing solutions to protect mission critical software applications from malicious and Zero day attacks and reverse engineering at run time.

CleanCloud by SEK

CleanCloud by SEK

CleanCloud by SEK is a CSPM product focused on public cloud data protection and security regulations, with over 400 compliance checks for the market's leading frameworks and regulations.

Veratad Technologies

Veratad Technologies

Veratad Technologies, LLC is a world class provider of online/real-time Identity Verification, Age Verification, Fraud Prevention and Compliance Solutions.

National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) - Vietnam

National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) - Vietnam

National Cyber Security Center of Vietnam has a central monitoring function and is a technical focal point for monitoring and supporting information security for people, businesses and systems.

Dawgen Global

Dawgen Global

Dawgen Global is an integrated multidisciplinary professional service firm in the Caribbean Region providing a range of services including Risk Management and Information Systems Assurance.

ORS Consulting

ORS Consulting

ORS Consulting is a specialist provider of risk management advisory services supporting asset-intensive industries such as chemicals, energy, power and utilities, defence and maritime.

Otto

Otto

Stop Client-Side Attacks. Plug otto into your application security suite and protect your supply chain.

Netox

Netox

Netox is a comprehensive IT service provider that combines IT support services, IT solutions and specialist services; specializing in cybersecurity solutions.

Arista Middle East

Arista Middle East

Arista Middle East is part of Global Arista Technologies specializing in OT Cybersecurity.

Astran

Astran

At Astran, we revolutionize data security by introducing a groundbreaking solution for data confidentiality headaches.

Pixee

Pixee

Pixee fixes vulnerabilities, hardens code, squashes bugs, and gives engineers more time to focus on the work that counts.