Activist Admits Sending China Technology

Apparently it's not only some European countries who are prone to forget who their friends are:

A human rights activist whom the U.S. government helped free from a Chinese prison in 2001 pleaded guilty Wednesday to illegally sending $1.5 million worth of high-tech items to China.

Gao Zhan entered the plea in federal court in Alexandria, Va., to one count of unlawful export and another count of tax evasion. Her husband, Xue Donghua, also pleaded guilty to tax evasion.

Gao, a permanent U.S. resident alien, was arrested by Chinese authorities in February 2001 and convicted of spying for Taiwan. She was released after five months in jail under intense pressure from the U.S. government and worked until spring 2002 as a researcher at American University here.

According to federal prosecutors, from August 1998 through 2001 Gao ran Technology Business Services, a business specializing in exports of technology to China. The exports were made to Chinese companies tied to ``institutes'' which perform research and development for the Chinese government, including the Chinese military.

Among the items sent to China were microprocessors that can be used in digital flight control and weapons systems, including identification of targets. Although these microprocessors also have commercial uses, they cannot be exported without permission of the U.S. government.

If you can stomach it, read the whole thing here, (link via Instapundit.)

DC

Comments

[Phil]

This case is absolutely fascinating. The thought that won'tleave my mind is what made her from an enemy of China (as a spy for Taiwan, true or not true) to an agent for China

I wonder if they worked on her while she was in detention.

[DC]

Hi Phil,

Yes. You have to wonder if there is some "reeducation" involved or could it have been part of the terms of release?

DC