A Taiwanese couple plotted to sell top secret plans for a small US military drone — used for espionage and reconnaissance — to China, a court in Newark, New Jersey, heard this week.
Shen Hui-sheng, 47, and Huan Lin-chang, 43, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and conspiracy to import illegal drugs.
They are scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5 next year and could each get 20 years in prison and a US$1 million fine.
US military analysts said outside the court that Beijing may have wanted to launch the “RQ-11B” drone — codenamed Raven — from ships and use it to monitor the islands and atolls over which China makes disputed claims in the East and South China seas.
The hand-launched Raven can fly for two hours and has a range of about 16km. It has a wingspan of 1.3m, normally operates at 152m or lower, and is equipped with sensors and cameras that can be used by day or night.
Shen, known as “Charlie,” and Chang, known as “Alice,” were tricked by an FBI “sting” in February 2012 to travel to New York from their home in Taiwan and take delivery of classified manuals for the drone.
The two also plotted to import the illegal narcotic crystal methamphetamine from Taiwan to the US and the undercover FBI agents agreed to pay US$70,000 for 1kg of the drug.
Shen and Chang supplied the FBI agents with a sophisticated code to use when communicating with them in Taipei, and opened a bank account in Hong Kong to receive and disburse funds for the venture.
They told the FBI they were working for a special advisor to a high-ranking Chinese government official.
The two claimed they could smuggle drone parts and drone technology out of the country using techniques they had learned in the narcotics trade.
According to court papers, Shen told the FBI he was a resident of Taiwan and portrayed himself as a logistics expert able to obtain and transmit contraband items throughout the world.
Chang also said that she was a resident of Taiwan, but identified herself as a schoolteacher fluent in English, Spanish, Mandarin and “Fukinese,” also known as Hoklo.
Shen said that he could use frogmen to swim out into the ocean with drone parts and deliver them to a semi-submersible vehicle that would in turn take them to a ship anchored kilometers offshore.
During a meeting with the undercover agents, one agent said that he would prefer not to make money on something that would hurt the US.
Shen replied: “I think that all items would hurt America.”
Both Shen and Chang told the undercover agents that their associates were connected to the Chinese government, working for a Chinese intelligence company similar to the CIA and would be using government money to make the purchases.
“Their status is a bit special, so in order to travel to the UK or US, all developed countries, for them it’s hard…” Chang said.
Shen interrupted: “They are spies. They find it very hard to get a visa. They cannot go to the US or UK.”
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS