Chenguang Gong, who became a U.S. citizen in 2011, hit with federal charges for theft of trade secrets connected to nuclear missile tracking after raid at his Thousand Oaks home
A Chinese-American engineer will appear in a federal court Wednesday on charges he stole U.S. Department of Defense funded trade secret technologies that can detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic weapons, Los Angeles federal prosecutors said.
Los Angeles United States Attorney Martin Estrada said the technology allegedly stolen by 57-year-old Chenguang Gong would be “dangerous to U.S. national security if obtained by international actors.”
According to a criminal complaint filed in L.A., Gong transferred more than 3,600 files from an unnamed Malibu defense firm that is developing “sophisticated infrared sensor technology intended for use in various space based and military missions.” The intelligence includes blueprints for high-tech missile detection systems, designed with U.S. taxpayer funding, that Gong allegedly moved to various hard drives, which were recovered at his Thousand Oaks home after an FBI raid last May.
The stolen intel was worth “hundreds of millions of dollars” the company told the FBI, according to the complaint. Gong also shared “low-light/night vision dual-use CMOS image sensor” technology used by the U.S. military in a video he sent to China, according to the complaint.
Gong was arrested Tuesday, just days before he planned to travel to China to celebrate the Lunar New Year, according to the complaint, one of multiple trips he took to meet with members of the Chinese Communist Party to discuss its so-called Thousand Talents Plan, an espionage operation that the FBI calls a dire threat to “Americans’ safety and prosperity.”
Just last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified in front of Congress about what he called “China’s multi-pronged assault on our national and economic security,” calling it “the defining threat of our generation,” an attack helped by bad actors who infiltrate U.S. companies to steal military trade secrets that help China in its ongoing intellectual property cold war.
During his long career in the California defense sector, prosecutors say, Gong was allegedly one of those bad actors who repeatedly traveled to China where he “touted that his proposals would be useful to China’s military.”
In one email translated from Mandarin, prosecutors say, Gong remarked that he “took a risk” in 2019 by traveling to China because he “worked for… an American military industry company” but he took the chance because he “thought he could do something” to contribute to China’s “high-end military integrated circuits.”
With that, he became what the CCP called an “Innovation Connector” between China and Silicon Valley.
Wray warned Congress that these very types of spy games are accelerating China’s plan “to wreak havoc and cause real-world harm to American citizens and communities.”
“If or when China decides the time has come to strike, they’re not focused solely on political or military targets. We can see from where they position themselves, across civilian infrastructure, that low blows aren’t just a possibility in the event of a conflict. Low blows against civilians are part of China’s plan,” Wray testified last week. Those targets could include the nation’s power, water, and technology infrastructures.
Wray added China’s success depends on exactly the type of intelligence Gong is accused of stealing, saying the Chinese Communist Party is hard at work recruiting: “human sources to target our businesses, using insiders to steal the same kinds of innovation and data their hackers are targeting while also engaging in corporate deception.”
In 2022, the Biden Administration ordered the Justice Department to shut down a national security program known as the China Initiative, which had been established to combat Chinese industrial espionage and run out of five U.S. Attorneys Offices across the country – including the Central District of California in Los Angles – amid accusations that it amounted to racial profiling.
The China Initiative targeted academics, including disgraced Harvard University Chemistry Department Chair and Cal Tech graduate Charles Lieber, who was dragged off campus by the FBI in 2020 after investigators learned he signed a Thousand Talents Plan contract with the CCP that led him to duplicate his DoD funded research at a university in Wuhan. An El Monte man was arrested in 2021 for illegally exporting cesium atomic clocks to Hong Kong as part of the China Initiative.
Gong, according to court records, was on the radar of federal investigators when the China Initiative was shut down, which allowed him to continuing spying on behalf of the nation the FBI calls the U.S.’s greatest enemy. A federal judge reopened his case after the FBI raid netted a trove of evidence connected to Gong’s cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party.
Los Angeles has long been home to a plethora of spies. Los Angeles reported last year that veteran Senator Dianne Feinstein, who died last year, had Chinese spy infiltrate her inner circle as a driver listening to her calls and attending events.
Congressman Eric Swalwell was tied to an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security, a fetching young Chinese staffer named Christine Fang—friends called her Fang Fang, though others in Congress have since referred to her less endearingly as Yum Yum. Fang was an integral part of Swalwell’s office, until an FBI counterintelligence investigation discovered not only was she palling around with Feinstein’s driver, but she was also sharing U.S. secrets with China.
The California Congressman’s connection to Fang led to a House Ethics Committee investigation by his colleagues. Last spring, the Committee sent a letter to Swalwell that urged him he should take better precautions against “foreign governments,” who “may attempt to secure improper influence through gifts and other interactions,” but that he would be allowed to keep his seat on the House Intelligence Committee.
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DOJ Says US Engineer Contacted China Before Stealing Government Tech Used to Detect Nuclear Missile Launches
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has leveled serious accusations against an engineer associated with a Los Angeles-based firm who allegedly stole trade secret technologies intended for the US government’s use in space to detect nuclear missile launches and to monitor ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
According to CNBC, the person charged with theft of trade secrets was 57-year-old Chenguang Gong, residing in San Jose, California, who obtained US citizenship in 2011. Gong’s arrest occurred on Tuesday, with a scheduled detention hearing on Wednesday.
“In his submissions to the Talent Programs, Gong proposed projects that mirrored his work for several of these companies, and repeatedly touted that his proposals would be useful to China’s military and that China did not yet have the technologies he was proposing to develop himself or share with Chinese companies,” the complaint reads.
‘Talent Programs’
According to federal prosecutors, Gong’s actions, if successful, could pose a significant threat to US national security, especially if the technology falls into the hands of foreign entities.
US Attorney for Los Angeles, Martin Estrada, highlighted Gong’s previous attempts to share valuable information with the military of the People’s Republic of China.
The criminal complaint asserts that from 2014 to 2022, Gong submitted numerous applications for Chinese government-run “talent programs,” while employed by prominent US technology firms and a major defense contractor.
These programs are designed to attract skilled individuals from abroad to contribute to China’s economic growth and military advancements.
The complaint suggests that Gong proposed projects to the Talent Programs that mirrored his work for US companies, emphasizing their potential benefits to China’s military capabilities.
It also notes that Gong transferred over 3,600 digital files from his former workplace in Malibu, a research and development company, to personal storage devices between March and April last year.
More than half of these transfers occurred after Gong had accepted a position at a competitor firm, allegedly violating proprietary and export-controlled regulations.
Blueprints for Infrared Sensors
The technology allegedly stolen by Gong includes blueprints for advanced infrared sensors crucial for space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
It also contained blueprints for sensors designed to help US military aircraft detect incoming heat-seeking missiles and deploy countermeasures effectively.
During his tenure at the company, Gong was tasked with overseeing the design and advancement of readout integrated circuits for the company’s sensors. Numerous files that were unlawfully obtained bore labels such as “proprietary,” “for official use only,” and “export controlled.”
After searching his office following a network activity and finding a flash drive with files that had been transferred, Gong was terminated in late April.
He was also swiftly let go by another company, which hired him on May 1, after just nine days, due to revelations regarding his involvement in the transfer of files.
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Over $3 BILLION flowed from US venture capital firms to China to aid military and spy capabilities: Bombshell House report reveals how American dollars are ‘subsidizing’ CCP’s ‘malign’ regime
- The report states that U.S. venture capitalist companies have helped ‘build and strengthen’ China’s authoritarian regime
- U.S. venture capital is financing the ‘production of weapons systems designed to kill Americans and advance China’s warfighting capabilities’
- And worse of all is that American families are ‘unwittingly contributing’ and ‘fueling our own destruction’
Top lawmakers put out a bombshell report Thursday revealing how billions of American dollars are flowing into the hands of the Chinese Communist Party – and being used to support their military and genocidal efforts.
The report states that U.S. venture capitalist companies have helped ‘build and strengthen’ China’s authoritarian regime through a variety of methods.
According to the House China Select Committee, over $3 billion was invested into Chinese artificial intelligence and semiconductor companies by five top U.S. venture capitalist firms between 2001 and 2023.
The committee launched an investigation last summer into the finances of five companies: Sequoia Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Walden International, GSR Ventures and GGV Capital.
Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., warn in the report that their investigation ‘merely scratched the surface of the danger that American investment into Chinese industry poses to our national security.’
And billions more beyond what they uncovered may be flowing into PRC companies from Americans.
The funds are being used to ‘support the PRC’s military, digital authoritarianism, and efforts to develop technological supremacy and undermine American technological leadership.’
The findings over the six-month investigation discovered that those five firms also sent ‘more than $1.9 billion into PRC AI companies and $1 billion into over 150 PRC semiconductor firms.’
Additionally, they invested ‘over $130 million in Chinese AI companies that the U.S. government blacklisted for supporting the Chinese Communist Party’s genocide and human rights abuses.’
Sequoia Capital even put over $1 billion into helping CCP-controlled firm Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company, as they worked to expand overseas, say the lawmakers.
‘Not only has Bytedance partnered with the Chinese Ministry of Public Security to crack down on internal dissent within China, but according to the FBI in sworn testimony, it has the ability to control the software on millions of Americans’ devices through TikTok,’ they write.
And worse of all is that American families are ‘unwittingly contributing,’ they say.
‘All five firms that the Select Committee investigated have U.S.-based investors, —limited partners that include institutional entities like university endowments, family offices, and pension funds.’
The lawmakers stated that Americans whose retirement accounts are invested in these five venture capital firms ‘are contributing part of their hard-earned paycheck to it furthering the Chinese Communist Party’s authoritarian ambitions.’
China also now has the ability to hold major American executives and companies ‘hostage,’ the report warns.
It also ‘critically weakens’ the United State’s own economic sovereignty and security.
And U.S. venture capital is financing the ‘production of weapons systems designed to kill Americans and advance China’s warfighting capabilities.’
As a result, the lawmakers say that the ‘status quo’ is ‘untenable’ and are urging the government to take several steps to immediately stop the flow of money into China’s hands.
The first recommendation is by restricting any U.S. investments into ‘entities sanctioned or red-flagged’ by the government.
Second, the lawmakers say legislation should be implemented to further restrict any ‘outbound investment’ into areas that overlap with China’s technologies, military capabilities, and human rights abuses.
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Former Raytheon Engineer Sentenced for Exporting Sensitive Military Related Technology to China
Today, Wei Sun, 49, a Chinese national and naturalized citizen of the United States, was sentenced to 38 months in prison by District Court Judge Rosemary Marquez. Sun previously pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating the Arms Export Control Act (AECA).
Sun was employed in Tucson for 10 years as an electrical engineer with Raytheon Missiles and Defense. Raytheon Missiles and Defense develops and produces missile systems for use by the United States military. During his employment with the company, Sun had access to information directly related to defense-related technology. Some of this defense technical information constituted what is defined as “defense articles,” which are controlled and prohibited from export without a license under the AECA and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (the ITAR).
From December 2018 to January 2019, Sun traveled from the United States to China on a personal trip. On that trip, Sun brought along unclassified technical information in his company-issued computer, including data associated with an advanced missile guidance system that was controlled and regulated under the AECA and the ITAR. Despite having been trained to handle these materials correctly, Sun knowingly transported the information to China without an export license in violation of the AECA and the ITAR.
“Sun was a highly skilled engineer entrusted with sensitive missile technology that he knew he could not legally transfer to hostile hands,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Demers. “Nevertheless, he delivered that controlled technology to China. Today’s sentence should stand as a warning to others who might be tempted similarly to put the nation’s security at risk.”
“The United States relies on private contractors to help build our unparalleled defense technology,” said United States Attorney Michael Bailey. “People who try to expose that technology to hostile foreign powers should know that prison awaits them. The close cooperation of the victim defense contractor and the dedication of the FBI made this case a success.”
“This isn’t about a laptop mistakenly taken on a trip, this was the illegal export of U.S. missile technology to China,” said Assistant Director Alan E. Kohler, Jr. of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. “The FBI will continue to partner with companies to protect their information and our national security while bringing criminals such as Wei Sun to justice.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigated this matter with the assistance of Raytheon Missiles and Defense. Beverly K. Anderson and Nicole P. Savel, Assistant United States Attorneys, and William Mackie from the National Security Division, Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, handled the prosecution.
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