Aug 21, 2020 17:00:00

It is reported that China has set up 'bases to pull out scientists for the purpose of technology theft' all over the world.

A study conducted by the United States Department of State and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) reported that China had built its own networks around the world to attract scientists from businesses and universities. China has long been accused by the United States of 'trying to illegally obtain advanced foreign technology using China's own recruitment program.'

Hunting the Phoenix | Australian Strategic Policy Institute | ASPI
https://www.aspi.org.au/report/hunting-phoenix

How China Targets Scientists via Global Network of Recruiting Stations --WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-china-targets-scientists-via-global-network-of-recruiting-stations-11597915803

According to the survey, China has gathered excellent scientists and technologies from developed countries through about 600 recruitment bases established all over the world. The graph below shows the number of recruitment bases for each country. The vertical axis is the number of bases and the horizontal axis is the country name. The bases are mainly established in the United States, Germany, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, France, etc. Among them, the United States has the largest number, and it seems that there were 146 bases, which is about a quarter of the total.

The report also lists the number of recruitment bases established each year. The graph below shows the number of bases on the vertical axis and the year on the horizontal axis. China started establishing recruitment bases around 2006, and the number of establishments has increased sharply since around 2016. Of the 600 confirmed locations, more than 115 were established in 2018 alone.

The operation of the recruitment base is outsourced to Chinese companies, experts, alumni associations, student groups, academic associations, etc., and it is said that there were also bases that were ostensibly planning trips to China for scientists. thing. In addition, the report states that each organization was paid $ 22,000 a year for operating expenses and $ 29,000 for each scientist who acquired it. ..

From the results of the survey, the recruitment bases are mainly

operated by the National Foreign Experts Bureau of China and the United Front Work Department of the Communist Party of China, and not only recruitment but also information gathering, technology transfer, and anti-establishment movements. It is also clear that it was operated for the purpose of supporting the Chinese government such as counter-attack.

In the United States and elsewhere, it is not illegal to participate in foreign human resource development programs through recruitment bases, but there are many mechanisms for plagiarizing intellectual property in Chinese recruitment programs, especially scientists studying in the United States. The report states that if you stay in China for a short period of time while operating a room, there will often be conflicts of interest due to information disclosure.

As a matter of fact, former Tesla engineer Sokou Ue was sued in 2019 for the source code of Tesla's autonomous driving technology being stolen by Chinese electric vehicle maker Xiao Peng Automobile. Mr. Cao, who was pulled out of Tesla by an offer from XPeng Automobile, is suspected of having accessed Tesla's data uploaded to his personal iCloud account several times even after he got a job at XPeng Automobile. Mr. Cao said, 'I was thinking of deleting the data before leaving Tesla,' denying the technology theft. The proceedings between Tesla and Cao are scheduled to be heard in January 2021.

When the Wall Street Journal asked the Chinese embassy in the United States for comment on the details of the recruitment base, it said that no response was obtained. In addition, the Chinese government has denied systematic technology theft using recruitment bases, and the Chinese state media reports that 'the United States is using allegations of intellectual property theft as a political means.' ..