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U.S. court rules Chinese national guilty of aviation espionage
November 8th 2021
A Chinese national and state security official was convicted by a federal jury on Friday of conspiring to commit economic espionage and attempting to steal trade secrets from multiple U.S. aviation and aerospace companies. Read More » The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) described Yanjun Xu (41) as the first Chinese intelligence officer to be extradited to the U.S. to stand trial. The department cited court documents and evidence that Xu started operating as early as 2013 and used multiple aliases to target companies in the U.S. and abroad recognized as leaders in aviation. He was arrested in Belgium after GE cooperated with the FBI. “He identified experts who worked for the companies and recruited them to travel to China, often initially under the guise they were traveling to give a presentation at a university,’’ the DoJ said in a statement. “Xu and others paid the experts stipends on top of covering travel costs. According to today’s conviction, Xu attempted to steal technology related to GE Aviation’s exclusive composite aircraft engine fan – which no other company in the world has been able to duplicate – to benefit the Chinese state.” Xu was convicted of two counts of conspiring and attempting to commit economic espionage, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison for each count and a fine of up to US$5 million. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and two counts of attempted theft of trade secrets, which carries a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years imprisonment for each count and a US$250,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence. “The jury, by its guilty verdict here today, held Xu accountable for his classic spy techniques,” said acting U.S. Attorney Vipal J. Patel.
