US arrests senior Chinese intelligence officer
(Baonghean.vn) - US authorities announced on October 10 that they had arrested a senior Chinese intelligence officer after he was extradited from Belgium. He was accused of spying and stealing US trade secrets.
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| Xu Yanjun planned since 2013 to collect trade secrets of GE Airlines. Photo: AP |
According to the US Justice Department, Xu Yanjun, an official with China's Ministry of State Security, planned since 2013 to collect trade secrets from GE Aviation and other companies.
An indictment said the subject was lured to Belgium as part of a counterintelligence operation. In Belgium, Yanjun was arrested on a U.S. warrant on April 1. He was handed over to the U.S. by Belgium on October 9, marking the first time a Chinese intelligence official had been extradited from another country.
“The unprecedented extradition of a Chinese intelligence officer demonstrates the Chinese government’s lax oversight of economic espionage against the United States,” said FBI Assistant Director Bill Priestap.
The information was released amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing over geopolitical issues, trade tensions, cyber attacks and corporate espionage./.
