Chinese “trade secret” cases show CSIS director Richard Fadden was right with his 2010 warning
Correction: Richard Fadden is the current director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that he no longer held that position.
Is Richard Fadden owed an apology? Fadden, you remember, is director of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service. In 2010 he got himself in trouble after saying that CSIS suspected some Canadian public officials of working on behalf of foreign governments.
Of course, Fadden didn’t need to name names or identify the countries involved. Everyone knew he was talking about communist China. Canadians acting on behalf of China were, in the words of one or the more intelligent commentators, “infiltrating Canadian politics and exerting influence over Canadian politicians.”
Indeed, at least two of those suspected “agents of influence” held cabinet posts in provincial government, according to Fadden, and the problem is particularly conspicuous in British Columbia, the hot zone of Asian immigration in Canada.
Oh the hue and cry that ensued. Editorialists were aghast, fearing that Fadden’s views would be used to undermine multicultural and immigration policies. (Well, like, duh. If multikultism is making it easier for others to spy on this country, then it only makes sense of reconsider those attitudes.)
Politicians likewise took great umbrage at the notion that any of them would act in a treasonous manner. But then, as one editorialist remarked, “the MPs were playing to the multicultural crowd.”
Academics were also puzzled why Fadden would say what he said because there was no benefit to him for saying it. (I guess the idea of patriotism is beyond academic comprehension.)
And, no surprise, those of the ethnic persuasion more or less brandished that shuts-down-all-discussion epithet of “racism” to scare everyone into silence. Never mind that Fadden was once the deputy minister of citizenship and immigration, and, no doubt, had some knowledge of how Canada’s immigration system is abused.
All of this hostility might have been warranted if subsequent events didn’t provide considerable evidence to back Fadden’s claim. Scant days after he spoke outAmerican authorities arrested Russian agents — some posing as Canadians – who were involved “in a plot to penetrate the innermost circles of American power.”
A year later, in 2011, we had the so-called Dechert affair. Again, you surely remember the kerfuffle when Conservative MP Bob Dechert publicly apologized for his more-than-friendly relationship with Shi Rong, a Toronto correspondent for Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency. Everybody knows (except, it seems, Dechert) that Xinhua serves as an intelligence gathering arm for the Chinese government.
And this late last week – a tidbit of a news item to demonstrate that Fadden knew what he was talking about and was more than justified in voicing his concerns. To be sure, the item originated in the United States, but only the most naïve — or deliberately obfuscated — would think such things aren’t happening on this side of the border. A former General Motors engineer, Shanshan Du, 54, with access to the automaker’s secret hybrid-car technology was convicted Friday along with her husband, Yu Qin, 51, of stealing trade secrets for possible use in developing such vehicles in Chinal. Qin also was convicted of wire fraud and attempting to obstruct justice by shredding documents. Prosecutors told jurors in the weeks-long trial that GM trade secrets were found on at least seven computers owned by the Oakland County couple. Du faces up to 10 years in prison, while her husband faces up to 30.
Du and Qin, both U.S. citizens, had been under scrutiny for years after GM accused them of theft. They were charged in 2006 with destroying documents sought by investigators, but that case was dropped while investigators pursued a broader probe that led to an indictment in 2010.
Corporate espionage is nothing new, of course. According to news reports, this wasn’t the first trade secrets prosecution in the Detroit auto industry. In 2011, an engineer who stole information from Ford Motor Co. was sentenced to nearly six years in prison. Xiang Dong Yu, also known as Mike Yu, admitted copying thousands of documents with details on engine transmission systems and electrical power supply before leaving Ford to work for a Chinese competitor in 2008.
But this case, too, is apparently one of more than a dozen brought in the past three years by the U.S. Justice Department alleging defendants of Chinese ancestry or citizenship sought to take trade secrets from U.S.-based companies for use by the Chinese government or businesses.
Last month in Chicago, a former software engineer for Chicago-based CME Group Inc., the world’s largest derivatives exchange, pleaded guilty to charges of downloading more than 10,000 files containing source code from his employer to support trading activities in an exchange in China.
In September in Newark, New Jersey, a native of China who worked for L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL)’s space and navigation division was convicted of transporting stolen property and possession of trade secrets related to precision navigation devices.
Clearly, Fadden is owed an apology.
Related articles
- As China steals our technology, relationship requires balance between trade and security(fullcomment.nationalpost.com)
- Ex-GM Engineer, Husband Guilty of Trade Secrets Theft (bloomberg.com)
- Border brass wined and dined by Chinese embassy officials, complainant alleges(sunnewsnetwork.ca)
- Report: Former GM engineer found guilty of trying to sell trade secrets (autoblog.com)
- Chinese officials seek Canadian anti-smuggling secrets (comsecllc.blogspot.com)
- Spies Stole Secrets from GM (foxnews.com)
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