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Catching a Chinese IP Thief: How the FBI Tracked and
Caught Sinovel
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Photo: Getty Images
For decades,
Chinese firms have gotten away with stealing U.S. technology.
But on Jan. 24,
2018, a federal jury found Chinese wind turbine
manufacturer Sinovel Wind Group Co. Ltd guilty of stealing the software
of U.S. company AMSC, inflicting more than $800 million in damages. This
landmark case was the first time a Chinese company had been charged and
convicted of such crimes in a federal court.
Retired FBI agent
Joshua Ben Mayers, who was the sole agent handling the
7-year long investigation, tells the story—and asks what the U.S. government will
do to deter future Chinese IP theft:
- “This
victory in court exposes a more difficult problem. Is the U.S. government
willing to back the ruling with a meaningful deterrence strategy? In
2015, President Barack Obama signed an executive order instituting
harsh sanctions against countries or individuals found responsible
for significant malicious cyber-enabled crimes, including the theft
of intellectual property.”
- “President
Donald Trump renewed this executive order in 2017, declaring these types of
crimes a significant extraordinary threat to the national security,
financial stability and economic health of the United States. But no
specific action has been taken by the White House to hold China or
Sinovel accountable for these crimes.”
- “This
is just one version of a story that has been repeated over and over
in the past 20 years, to the accumulating detriment of American
workers, companies, and the larger economy…The Sinovel case puts in
stark relief the question: why is the U.S. government apparently
doing nothing to correct this wrong?”
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Ex-CIA Chief Brennan’s Broadsides Against Trump Only Help
Putin
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Former CIA station
chief and Moscow veteran Dan Hoffman says the partisan
sniping of Democrats and Republicans – and former CIA Director John
Brennan – is playing right into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hands:
- “As
a trained intelligence officer who knows what makes our society tick, Putin understands the
best way to soil our democratic process is to link it with a touch
of conspiracy, i.e. to the Kremlin. He is acutely aware of the value
to Russia of exacerbating the political tension that grips our
country.”
- “That’s
why I was particularly upset when former CIA Director John Brennan delivered cringe worthy
tweets excoriating President Donald Trump’s character and then
‘speculating’ on MSNBC that Trump has not said anything negative
about Putin because Trump ‘has something to serious to fear.’
Brennan insinuated Putin was in a position to blackmail the
president.”
- “Democrats
and Republicans regularly trade charges of collusion, conspiracy and
obstruction. We have yet to find the common ground necessary to defend
against Russia’s espionage onslaught. Our elected leaders should
call a time-out from partisan attacks on each other, which only
serve Putin’s interests. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are the
enemy. Both sides should aim their sights on the Kremlin.”
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Join
us at the Leadership Summit for
Women in National Security Careers on April 25!
Featuring opening remarks from Sue Gordon, Principal Deputy Director of
National Intelligence of the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence, this day of inspirational speakers, self-examination and
action planning is a unique opportunity for women in national security to
come together to learn, grow and explore. The time is now to create a new
culture in the national security arena.
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Separating Kim Jong Un from his Elites
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Navy Commander
Fredrick ‘Skip’ Vincenzo says North Korea’s Kim Jong Un—close to being
able to credibly threaten the United States, and thus with his regime
secured—is “waging
an information offensive” to drive a wedge between the
U.S. and South Korea.
- “Kim
is depicting himself as the peacemaker and the U.S. as the
barrier to peace, as he seeks to set the conditions that either
force the U.S. to withdraw or compel South Korea to ask it to
leave.”
- “Although
there has been North and South engagement before, the underlying
conditions are now much different—the U.S. increasingly sees
North Korea as an existential threat while much of the South remains
ambivalent. Kim is hoping to break the alliance by exploiting this
seam.”
- “Kim’s
leverage is based on his perceived willingness to use nuclear
weapons,
as well as the thousands of conventional weapons he has pointed at
Seoul. But he needs an army led by a cadre of elites to run his
threat-of-war machine. The U.S.-led alliance against Pyonyang can
undermine the strength and reliability of Kim’s military by
convincing regime elites that—should Kim take them to war—his
interests will sharply diverge from theirs.”
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