Chinese Technical Espionage

So we have the curious case of Professor Rongxing Li, lately of Ohio State University and previously of Tongi University in Shanghai, who press reports say is being sought by the FBI.  According to the Columbus Dispatch, 8 Sept 2015, Li resigned early last year and went back to China.  The information on his 18-year tenure at Ohio State was removed from their website.  The Dispatch article goes on to say, " Investigators determined that Li had numerous, ongoing connections with Tongji, including being listed as a professor and as the director of a center for spatial information. The investigators also found online evidence that he had collaborated with Chinese-government programs to develop advanced technologies, serving as chief scientist for one project.

On Feb. 15, 2014, Li notified Ohio State and NASA that he was withdrawing from the Mars 2020 project. He also told Ohio State that he was in China caring for his sick parents. A few days later, he emailed his resignation to the university. According to a search warrant, he said, 'With this email I resign from my position at the Ohio State University'.” The timing of his departure is interesting.

In May of this year, another professor, Hao Zhang, Tianjin University was arrested  with six individuals charged with economic espionage and theft of trade secrets for their roles in a long-running effort to obtain U.S. trade secrets for the benefit of universities and companies controlled by the PRC government.  In that case, the indicted individuals worked for a company in Silicon Valley and worked for the Chinese government company at the same time.  They were transferring technology from the U.S. to China.  Perhaps this will give Xi and Obama something else to talk about this month.