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Xu Yanjun was found guilty on five charges related to espionage economics and trade secret theft. He faces up to 60 years in prison and a fine of more than $5 million BBC, Saturday (6/11/2021).
Xu was first arrested in Belgium in 2018 and is likely the first Chinese intelligence agent to be extradited to the US for trial.
According to a US Department of Justice statement, Xu is a senior member of China’s Jiangsu branch of the Ministry of State Security – a body in charge of counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence, and internal security.
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According to the US Department of Justice, Xu was convicted of conspiring and attempting to carry out economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.
“Among the trade secrets Xu is trying to steal on China’s behalf is technology related to GE Aviation’s composite aircraft engine fan, which has never been duplicated by any other company in the world,” the US Department of Justice said in a statement. CBS News.
Prosecutors said he paid industry experts, starting at least December 2013, to travel to China under the guise of giving university presentations on their subject matter.
Operating under aliases, Xu targeted aviation experts in the US and abroad, including a GE Aviation engineer in Cincinnati, Ohio. The engineer traveled to China in May 2017 to give a presentation and met Xu, who paid for the employee’s travel expenses and allowance. The GE engineer, who no longer works for the company and has not been charged with a crime, took the company’s classified documents with him.
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