HONOLULU, Hawaii - On Aug. 21, Pengyi Li walked to his gate at Honolulu International Airport, ready to board a flight to Hong Kong. Before he could get on the plane, federal agents arrested the 33-year-old Chinese national. Authorities say Li thought the bag of export-controlled electronics he had in his possession had come from rogue US brokers. The transaction was instead part of an elaborate undercover sting operation, write By Justin Rohrlich and Tim Fernholz for QZ.com. Continue reading original article
The Intelligent Aerospace take:
September 16, 2019-Intellectual property theft by Chinese companies is a big deal for the American counterparts getting their designs lifted, but it's also a giant issue for national security. A Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property report in 2017 estimated that IP theft by China costs US companies $225 billion and $600 billion annually. Of course, China also makes much of the world's electronics - as well as the components that make them work. The Asian power has aimed to catch up with American know-how in the aerospace industry, including SATCOM and missile technology. The U.S. government is actively laying traps in an attempt to lure would-be thieves with promises of radiation-hardened circuit technology to American territories where they can be arrested and prosecuted keeping national security secrets under wraps - for now.
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace
