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China has been accused of an espionage conspiracy by the US, and recent tensions between the countries are rising. On Friday, a Chinese fugitive was arrested in San Francisco at the Chinese consulate. Earlier in the week, Washington ordered the Houston consulate closed. Now, it seems, the consulate is being accused of being part of the spying scheme.
The US is accusing the Chinese consulates in the US of operating a scheme to steal intellectual property data. China, infamously, has very lax laws regarding intellectual property. As such, many Chinese companies simply reverse engineer Western technology and advancements in order to sell it as their own. Chinese smartphone company Huawei, for instance, has been accused of stealing Apple’s smartphone designs.
Tang Juan, the Chinese fugitive arrested by US officials in San Francisco, specialized in biology. On her visa, Tang Juan hid her connection to China’s military. However, photos of her in a military uniform posing with China’s PLA surfaced after she entered the country. Moreover, Tang Juan hid her time as a researcher at the Fourth Military Medical University in China.
In a June 20 court filing, attorneys write “Tang denied serving in the Chinese military, claimed she did not know the meaning of the insignia on her uniform, and that wearing a military uniform was required for attendance at FMMU because it was a military school.”
Meanwhile, the Houston Consulate has been accused of being in contact with researchers at a Houston university. In court filings, the consulate’s employees are accused of guiding researchers on what materials to collect in private communications.
Houston’s accused spy ring is “a microcosm,” says the Justice Department. “[W]e believe […] a broader network of individuals in more than 25 cities that network is supported through the consulates here.” The Justice Department goes on to allege that China’s actions could range across the entire US.
“Consulates have been giving individuals in that network guidance on how to evade [and] obstruct our investigation. And you can infer from that the ability to task that [a] network of associates nationwide.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has escalated his discussions in regard to China. Now, he affirms, America must stand between China’s Communist Party and the economic domination of the globe. He warned in a speech on Thursday in the Nixon Library that, without the right precautions, the next 100 years could become a “Chinese Century.”
