DoD Employee, 3 Others Charged With Spying for China

I guess the ChiComs didn't get enough sensitive technology after all those campaign contributions to the Clintons back in the 1990s. Probably don't like Mrs. Clinton's chances too much either, especially after Norman Hsu was locked up.

Hedging their bets, I surmise. At the same time, these arrests probably just scratch the surface of the penetration.

Still, I doubt it'll come up in any debates.

Va. Man, Three Others Arrested, Charged With Espionage

Federal agents today arrested four people on espionage charges, including a Defense Department employee from Alexandria, and accused them of passing classified information to China that included details about the Space Shuttle and U.S. military sales to Taiwan.

The DOD employee, Gregg William Bergersen, 51, was charged in U.S. District Court in Alexandria with conspiracy to disclose national defense information. He is a weapons policy analyst at the Arlington-based Defense Security Cooperation Agency. Also charged in federal court in Alexandria were Tai Shen Kuo, 58, and Yu Xin Kang, 33, both of New Orleans.

Court documents said that Kuo obtained classified documents from Bergersen, often in exchange for cash, at a series of meetings across Northern Virginia, Charleston, South Carolina and Las Vegas. Much of the information was about U.S. military sales to Taiwan, the court documents said. Kuo and Kang face up to life in prison if convicted. Bergersen, of Alexandria, faces up to 10 years in prison.

In a separate case also linked to China, a former Boeing Co. engineer was arrested on charges that he stole Boeing trade secrets related to the Space Shuttle and other programs, including the C-17 military transport aircraft and the Delta IV rocket. Dongfan "Greg" Chung, 72, of Orange, Calif., faces charges of economic espionage, obstruction of justice and lying to the FBI in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

It was not immediately clear how much, if any, damage the alleged espionage did to U.S. national security. Justice Department officials are planning to discuss the cases at a news conference this afternoon, and the four defendants are scheduled to appear in federal courts. It was unclear if lawyers for them had been appointed.

But DOJ officials said the cases reflect the determination of China's government to penetrate U.S. intelligence and obtain vital national defense secrets.

"Today's prosecution demonstrates that foreign spying remains a serious threat in the post-Cold War world,'' Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said in a statement.

Release from the Department of Justice.

“Today’s prosecution demonstrates that foreign spying remains a serious threat in the post-Cold War world. The conspiracy charged in this case has all the elements of a classic espionage operation: a foreign government focused on accessing our military secrets; foreign operatives who effectively use stealth and guile to gain that access; and an American government official who is willing to betray both his oath of public office and the duty of loyalty we rightly demand from every American citizen. Such espionage networks pose a grave danger to our national security, and we should all thank the investigators and prosecutors on this case for effectively penetrating and dismantling this network before more sensitive information was compromised,” said Assistant Attorney General Wainstein.

U.S. Attorney Rosenberg stated: “Those who compromise classified national security information betray the enormous responsibility and trust placed in them by our government and the American people.”