Les Etats-Unis accusent un espion chinois d'avoir volé des informations à des entreprises aéronautiques

10/10/2018

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:  MANDATORY CREDIT 'WCPO,' NO ACCESS CINCINATTI SHOTLIST: WCPO - MANDATORY ON-SCREEN CREDIT 'WCPO,' NO ACCESS CINCINNATI Cincinnati, Ohio - 10 October 2018 1. Wide of presser 2. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Glassman, US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio "According to the indictment, Xu is a deputy division director in the Zhengzhou province of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, or MSS. The MSS is the Intelligence and Security Agency for China. It's responsible for counter-intelligence, foreign intelligence and political security. One of Xu's job duties was to obtain technical information, including trade secrets from aviation and aerospace companies in the United States and Europe. He and other MSS officers went about this job by concealing their identities and the nature of their employment. They worked to recruit individuals at aviation companies throughout the United States and Europe who they thought could provide them with trade secrets." 3. Wide of presser 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Glassman, US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio "Beginning in March of 2017, an unindicted coconspirator started trying to recruit an employee of a leading American aerospace company: G.E. Aviation, here in the Southern District of Ohio. That employee visited China at the end of May and beginning of June of 2017 for 'an exchange of ideas,' as I mentioned, regarding his highly sophisticated knowledge of technology for jet engines. While there, this employee met Xu several times and following the employees return to the United States, Xu continued to communicate with him seeking further technical information. At this point, however, G.E. Aviation was working closely with the FBI. As part of its investigation, the FBI was able to acquire numerous of Xu's communications, including not only those with the employee, but also those with other MSS officers, and that illustrated the Chinese government's scheme. In February 2018, at Xu's request, the employee sent to him technical information clearly marked as proprietary and they had multiple follow-up communications wherein Xu sought specific technical information and material to be used by experts in China." 5. Wide of presser 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Benjamin Glassman, US Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio "Whether they're small medium or large and in every field from aviation to agriculture, companies should see that Chinese officials are seeking to acquire their intellectual property, not only through hacking, but also through the recruitment of insiders. Companies should also see that working together with federal law enforcement authorities, as in this case, those attempted thefts can be thwarted and foreign actors can be brought to trial for their actions. Working together, we can stop China's efforts to steal the intellectual property of American companies." 7. Glassman exits STORYLINE: A Chinese spy who allegedly attempted to steal trade secrets from several American aviation and aerospace companies was charged Wednesday and extradited to the U.S. Yanjun Xu, an operative of the Chinese Ministry of State Security, is accused of recruiting experts who worked at aviation companies and paying them stipends to travel to China in order to obtain trade secrets, the Justice Department said. From 2013 until he was arrested in April, Xu would recruit employees from major aerospace companies, including GE Aviation, and persuade them to travel to China under the guise that they would give a presentation at a university, prosecutors said. Court papers document how Xu and other intelligence operatives planned to obtain "highly sensitive information" from the experts. Xu was arrested after traveling to Belgium in April. After his appeals fa