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A Chinese businessman pleaded guilty on Wednesday to U.S. charges that he smuggled marine technology out of the United States for the benefit of Northwestern Polytechnical University, a Chinese military universitythat is heavily involved in military research and works closely with the People’s Liberation Army.
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Qin Shuren, a marine biologist and founder of a company that sells oceanographic instruments, pleaded guilty in Boston federal court to illegally exporting to China devices called hydrophones that can be used to monitor sound underwater, Reuters reports.
He was charged in 2018 amid rising U.S. concerns about the national security threat posed by China.
Assistant Attorney General John Demers said during a seminar Wednesday at George Washington University that Chinese espionage and technology theft cases remain a top priority under the Biden administration’s Justice Department.
"The People’s Republic of China has an insatiable appetite for our country’s most sensitive products and technologies – particularly those with military applications,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell for the District of Massachusetts. “By exporting key anti-submarine warfare products to a Chinese military university, .Qin created a threat to our national security and broke the law. That warrants federal prosecution, without a doubt.”
Qin, who resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to 10 counts including conspiring to commit export violations, visa fraud, money laundering and smuggling.
Prosecutors previously also accused Qin, 45, of exporting unmanned surface vehicles and robotic boats, and alleged he had from 2015 to 2018 supplied US$8 million in goods to Chinese government-controlled entities.
He admitted to charges only concerning 60 hydrophones worth US$100,000. Under a plea deal, prosecutors agreed to recommend a prison sentence at the low end of the 87 to 108 months he faces under federal sentencing guidelines.
The plea was conditional, and Qin may still appeal a judge’s decision to not suppress evidence against him.
Defense lawyers said Qin founded LinkOcean Technologies Ltd in China in 2005 to provide oceanographic instruments to scientists and immigrated to the United States with his family in 2014 as a permanent resident.
Prosecutors said Northwestern Polytechnical University, a Chinese military research institute, tasked Qin with obtaining items used for anti-submarine warfare and that he obtained hydrophones for it from a U.S. manufacturer.
William Kettlewell, Qin’s attorney, said he was unaware of the university’s intended uses for the products. The university was also indicted but has never appeared in court.
China's Northwestern Polytechnical University has been involved in the development of unmanned aerial vehicles, autonomous underwater vehicles and missile proliferation projects, the DOJ said.
Since 2001, the U.S. Department of Commerce has designated NWPU on its Entity List for national security reasons.
Qin communicated with and received purchase orders from NWPU to obtain items used for anti-submarine warfare.
Between July 2015 and December 2016, Qin caused at least 60 hydrophones (devices used to detect and monitor sound underwater) to be exported from the United States to NWPU without obtaining the required export licenses from the DOC.
Qin and his company, LinkOcean, did so by concealing from the U.S. manufacturer of the hydrophones that NWPU was the true end-user and by causing false end-user information to be filed with the U.S. government, the DOJ said.
In addition, on four occasions in connection with the export of hydrophones to NWPU, Qin engaged in money laundering by transferring or causing the transfer of more than US$100,000 from Chinese bank accounts to bank accounts located in the United States with the intent to promote and facilitate his unlawful export scheme.
