ABSTRACT
China's most productive method of legally acquiring foreign technology is to send scientists overseas on scholarly exchange programs. To collect information, the Ministry of State Security (MSS) co-opts vast numbers of Chinese citizens living or traveling overseas. Public sources have attributed the exposure of Chin's espionage activities to the 1985 defection of Yu Zhensan, chief of the MSS's foreign affairs bureau. Computer-assisted analysis of China's exposed technology-related espionage activities in the United States reveals three basic operational patterns. First, co-optees are recruited in China and asked to acquire the targeted technologies while they travel abroad. Second, American companies with access to the desired level of technology are purchased outright by Chinese state-run firms. In intelligence circles this is considered a bold or aggressive operation. Third and most commonly, high-technology equipment is purchased by recruited agents running front companies in Hong Kong.
