לשם שמ’’ם

‫לשם שמיים‬

Authoritarianism and Democracy

Every 10 Hours: China’s Systematic Infringement upon American Intellectual Property

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warned, are more likely to steal information from companies that tout their studies. In the digital age, China’s rapidly expanding technical prowess—particularly in the area of computer hacking—renders it a serious threat to American corporations.

In addition to its cyber espionage campaigns, China Benjamin Zelnick, ’23 uses the age-old tactic of on-the-ground spies to accomplish On February 27, 2020, United States its goals.

For instance, in 2020, the American government Green Card holder and Chinese discovered that Yanqing Ye, a Chinese woman with a student citizen Hongjin Tan received a twovisa to study in Boston University’s high-profile physics, year prison sentence in the U.S. chemistry, and biomedical engineering programs, was after conspiring to transfer billionactually a lieutenant in the PLA who was illegally sharing dollar trade secrets to a Chinese 1 information with authorities at home.7 Even if a Chinese company. One month earlier, an ex-employee at the Los Alamos citizen is not working for the government like Ye, China’s National Laboratory—a high- 2017 “National Intelligence Law” requires them to 8“support, security government facility known assist, and cooperate with state intelligence work.” William for its role in the top-secret Manhattan Project— Schneider, Jr., former chair of the Defense Science Board, confessed to having worked for the Chinese government.2 warned that under this law, the country’s authoritarian Earlier this year, Chinese technology company Hytera regime could compel the 350,000 Chinese students in Communications was indicted for bribing employees at America’s academic institutions to abscond with classified Motorola to steal and share confidential research.3 These information stolen from research projects. China’s farinstances are only three in the multitude reported on the FBI reaching intelligence operations have proven to be highly website, all relating to China’s theft of American intellectual effective means of stealing American IP. Perhaps the most subversive strategy that the Chinese property. The Department of Justice (DOJ), in fact, claims government uses to exploit U.S. intelligence is what the that four out of every five economic espionage cases are tied Communist Party terms “talent plans”—programs that to China, and in February of 2020, FBI Director Christopher recruit and lavishly compensate American researchers and Wray announced that the bureau was managing around one academics for sharing their expertise. For example, the Senate thousand open investigations into the country’s “attempted Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs theft of US-based technology … spanning just about 4 reported that the “Thousand Talents Plan” was launched in every industry sector.” As the Chinese Communist Party 2008 to encourage experts to “transmit the knowledge and pirates American intellectual property (IP) by strategically research they gain here [in the U.S.] to China in exchange for infiltrating organizations and government agencies, the salaries, research funding, lab space, and other incentives.”9 United States must educate the public and proactively develop plans to deter and remediate these transgressions by According to the FBI, although many countries run talent plans, China continues to invest in them more heavily than an authoritarian foreign power.

10 One of China’s most dangerous strategies for stealing any other nation. In 2019, for instance, the Chinese Ministry to paying American ideas is its widespread use of hacking operations. of Science and Technology allocated $44 million 11 participants in these recruitment operations.

In a recent The 2017 Equifax breach, perpetrated by members of the case, the DOJ discovered that Harvard University professor Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), not only exposed a trove of confidential data but also allowed China to glean Charles Lieber, who had received over $15 million of U.S. information on the credit agency’s infrastructure design. federal research grants, had failed to disclose his position as Then-Attorney General William Barr characterized the “Strategic Scientist” at the Wuhan University of Technology (WUT) under the Thousand Talents Plan. incident as part of a larger “pattern of The DOJ’s press release stated that WUT state-sponsored computer intrusions WUT was transparently paid him $600,000 per year, allocated and thefts by China,” warning that attempting to funnel Lieber’s $158,000 for his living expenses, and Chinese hackers sought not only data on knowledge away from granted $1.5 million for him to lead a American citizens but also “trade secrets 5 new research laboratory in China. The America and toward its own and other confidential information.” true motive behind this arrangement was The American government also reports students. evident from one line of the contract: that cybercriminals routinely attack Lieber was obligated to “cultivat[e] healthcare and research facilities and young teachers and Ph.D. students” in Wuhan.12 WUT was search for information that could benefit their country. Tonya Ugoretz, a high-ranking official at the FBI’s Cyber Division, transparently attempting to funnel Lieber’s knowledge away commented that when medical research corporations from America and toward its own students. His contractual publicized their activities during the coronavirus pandemic, requirement to report findings to his foreign benefactor was they became “a mark for other nation-states that are interested by no means atypical: the FBI confirms that a caveat in the in … what exactly they’re doing.”6 Foreign countries, she majority of Chinese talent programs is an obligation to “[s]