This text appeared in the ‘Top Story’ email newsletter sent on May 31, 2025.
He had come to the United States on an F-1 student visa and committed the crime while on break from graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors under the Espionage Act and was sentenced to six months in prison and one year of supervised release.
Stealing Trade Secrets
Chinese professor Zhang Hao was sentenced in 2020 to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $476,835 after being convicted of conspiracy, economic espionage, and theft of trade secrets. He met one of his co-conspirators, Pang Wei, as doctoral students at the University of Southern California and both worked at American companies upon graduation. They worked with Tianjin University officials in China to steal wireless signal filtering technology from these companies for the benefit of the Chinese regime.Smuggling Biological Materials
Zheng Zaosong came to Harvard University’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as a visiting graduate student in pathology in 2018 and was caught hiding 21 vials of biological materials related to cancer research packed in a sock inside one of his bags at Boston Logan International Airport a year later. Zheng said he intended to bring the vials home to China and publish research under his own name. He agreed to a plea deal and was ordered to be removed from the country.Harassing Democracy Activists
Wu Xiaolei entered the United States on an F-1 visa to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston, and in 2022 began harassing a fellow student for posting a flier with a message supporting democracy in China. In Berklee Class of 2024 WeChat group messages, Wu said he had reported her to Chinese authorities who were now investigating her family, and threatened her with violence. He was convicted and sentenced to nine months but released early and returned to China.Undercover Military Officer
Ye Yanqing entered the United States on a J-1 visa to study as an exchange student at Boston University from October 2017 to April 2019. After she returned to China, she was charged with lying on her visa application as she concealed her identity as a lieutenant in the People’s Liberation Army. Prosecutor allege the Chinese regime sponsored her exchange student visit and she completed “numerous assignments” for the Chinese military during that time, including retrieving U.S. military intelligence and sending U.S. documents to China. She remains at large.Photographing Military Base
Zhao Qianli came to the United States as an summer exchange student and overstayed his visa. He was arrested after trespassing and photographing a U.S. naval base in Florida, whereupon he told officers he was lost and “a dishwasher from New Jersey.” He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year of supervised release. During questioning, Zhao said he received military training at a university with close ties to the Chinese military, which he had not disclosed on his application.Catherine Yang contributed.
