A Chinese-born US resident, defended by Washington two years ago when she was jailed in China on espionage charges, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to illegally selling US technology to China.
Gao Zhan (
The charge covered a transaction in October 2000, three months before Gao was arrested in China and accused of spying for Taiwan.
Human rights groups and US officials took up Gao's case in 2001 after she was detained on entering China and held for five months on charges of spying for Taiwan. Sentenced to 10 years in jail by a Chinese court, she was released on July 26, 2001, just days before a visit to Beijing by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The US Attorney Paul McNulty said Gao used the name "Gail Heights" in trying to order controlled items saying they were for research work at a northern Virginia university.
She received wire transfers from China including from the China National Electronics Import & Export Corp which has known connections to the Chinese military, McNulty said.
The items sold to China were on a list that required authorization from the US Department of Commerce to export, court documents said.
In July 2000, Gao agreed to sell 80 Military Intel486 DX2 microprocessors to Incom Import & Export Company, knowing the items were on the Commerce Department's control list, McNulty said.
"These computers are used on aircraft for navigation, digital flight control, weapons fire control, radar data processing, and airborne battle management systems," a statement from McNulty's office said.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck off the southern coast of Mindanao in the Philippines at 7:38am today, prompting the US Tsunami Warning System to issue an alert for neighboring countries, including Taiwan. The system issued a purple alert indicating a "tsunami threat." The potential threat zone includes Taiwan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Yap and Palau. Philippine authorities were assessing the damage from the quake, with the office of civil defense seeking to verifying initial reports that 15 people had been killed and 129 injured in the region, mostly from falling debris. Arlene Hollero, disaster chief of Maasim town in the Philippines' Sarangani Province,
‘GRAY ZONE’ PRESSURE: Beijing’s activities are intended to create the deceitful impression that China has jurisdiction over the area around Taiwan, the CGA said Taiwan’s rights over its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone must not be violated by any country, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that it will not accept any unprovoked actions. The council issued the remarks in response to the China Coast Guard conducting maritime enforcement drills near eastern Taiwan and claiming to fully exercise China’s maritime administrative law enforcement authority. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) has been closely monitoring the situation and is taking concrete steps to defend the nation’s sovereignty and secure its waters, the council said. China has no sovereign rights over the waters off eastern
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RSS