China broadens espionage operations
USA Today: WASHINGTON — China is running aggressive and wide-ranging espionage operations aimed at stealing U.S. weapons technology that could be useful against U.S. forces, according to the nation's top spy-catchers.
U.S. counterintelligence officials have also detected an expansion of spy networks run by Russia, Cuba and Iran targeting the U.S. government and, in the case of Iran, U.S. military technology, according to Timothy Bereznay, assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.
China, however, has emerged as the leading espionage threat, Bereznay and Stephen Bogni, a senior investigator for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said in separate interviews.
China has "put out a shopping list" of weapons and components it is seeking to arms dealers and middlemen, Bogni said. These middlemen, often ethnic Chinese, operate out of shell companies in the USA, he said. The list includes night-vision gear, radar-evading and radar- and communications-jamming equipment, missile-guidance systems and torpedoes.
On Wednesday, one accused Chinese spy, Taiwanese businessman Ko-Suen "Bill" Moo, pleaded guilty to charges he tried to buy military parts and weapons, including an F-16 fighter jet engine and cruise missiles.
ESPIONAGE: A growing business
ICE officials said Moo attempted to buy from undercover agents an AGM-129 cruise missile, which can carry nuclear warheads 2,300 miles.
The possibility of a U.S.-Chinese military confrontation over Taiwan looms in the background of the espionage, said Ronald Guerin, the FBI's East Asia section chief.
In a nightmare scenario, China could use U.S. technology to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier positioned to block a Chinese move against Taiwan, Guerin said. "We have to really worry about our technology being used against our (own) warfighter. That's a losing proposition," Guerin said. "This is a threat to the national security of the United States."
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy did not return a call seeking comment.
Counterintelligence is a highly secret sector of intelligence and law enforcement, involving criminal investigations and classified or sensitive information. Bereznay and other officials said they were willing to discuss it on the record to draw attention to what they regard as an emerging national security threat.
The FBI has arrested 25 Chinese nationals or Chinese Americans in cases involving the targeting of U.S. technology in the past two years, an unprecedented level of espionage compared to prior years, Guerin said. Most of the cases involve alleged theft of sensitive technology. ICE has initiated more than 400 investigations since 2000 involving illicit export of U.S. arms and strategic technology to China, according to agency statistics.
The emerging espionage threat involves business people, trade representatives and academics in the USA ostensibly for legitimate purposes, Bereznay said. Sometimes the technology they target is highly sensitive but not yet classified, requiring the government to prosecute export violations rather than espionage
"Foreign collectors don't wait until something is classified," Bereznay said. "They're targeting it at the R&D (research and development) phase."
U.S. counterintelligence officials have also detected an expansion of spy networks run by Russia, Cuba and Iran targeting the U.S. government and, in the case of Iran, U.S. military technology, according to Timothy Bereznay, assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.
China, however, has emerged as the leading espionage threat, Bereznay and Stephen Bogni, a senior investigator for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said in separate interviews.
China has "put out a shopping list" of weapons and components it is seeking to arms dealers and middlemen, Bogni said. These middlemen, often ethnic Chinese, operate out of shell companies in the USA, he said. The list includes night-vision gear, radar-evading and radar- and communications-jamming equipment, missile-guidance systems and torpedoes.
On Wednesday, one accused Chinese spy, Taiwanese businessman Ko-Suen "Bill" Moo, pleaded guilty to charges he tried to buy military parts and weapons, including an F-16 fighter jet engine and cruise missiles.
ESPIONAGE: A growing business
ICE officials said Moo attempted to buy from undercover agents an AGM-129 cruise missile, which can carry nuclear warheads 2,300 miles.
The possibility of a U.S.-Chinese military confrontation over Taiwan looms in the background of the espionage, said Ronald Guerin, the FBI's East Asia section chief.
In a nightmare scenario, China could use U.S. technology to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier positioned to block a Chinese move against Taiwan, Guerin said. "We have to really worry about our technology being used against our (own) warfighter. That's a losing proposition," Guerin said. "This is a threat to the national security of the United States."
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy did not return a call seeking comment.
Counterintelligence is a highly secret sector of intelligence and law enforcement, involving criminal investigations and classified or sensitive information. Bereznay and other officials said they were willing to discuss it on the record to draw attention to what they regard as an emerging national security threat.
The FBI has arrested 25 Chinese nationals or Chinese Americans in cases involving the targeting of U.S. technology in the past two years, an unprecedented level of espionage compared to prior years, Guerin said. Most of the cases involve alleged theft of sensitive technology. ICE has initiated more than 400 investigations since 2000 involving illicit export of U.S. arms and strategic technology to China, according to agency statistics.
The emerging espionage threat involves business people, trade representatives and academics in the USA ostensibly for legitimate purposes, Bereznay said. Sometimes the technology they target is highly sensitive but not yet classified, requiring the government to prosecute export violations rather than espionage
"Foreign collectors don't wait until something is classified," Bereznay said. "They're targeting it at the R&D (research and development) phase."
posted by Marko at 5/18/2006 12:07:00 AM
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