Meng worked at California-based defence contractor Quantum3D from 2000 to 2003 and helped develop advanced graphic imaging software used to train U.S. fighter pilots.
After resigning from Quantum3D, Meng returned to China and repackaged the software with plans to sell it to various governments including China, Thailand and Malaysia, said the U.S. Department of Justice.
In China, Meng started working for Orad High Tech, a Chinese firm and Quantum3D competitor.
Some commentators have suggested Meng’s plea bargain was diplomatically crafted to avoid tension with the Chinese regime. The U.S. government dropped theft charges and convicted him of exporting software that might benefit a foreign government.
The U.S. also accepted the Chinese regime’s explanation that it did not realize the software was stolen and thereby avoided accusing China of engaging in economic espionage, something the country is widely known to do.
“It’s par for the course where China’s concerned,” said David Harris, one of Canada’s leading experts on security and former chief of strategic planning for CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service).
“We’ve seen China applying industrial strength competitive espionage to the western world and any other suitable military industrial target,” said Harris, adding that this tendency has moved in “lockstep” with the regime’s investment in its own military and economy.
Harris said national intelligence and law enforcement organizations seem to take a careful approach when it comes to accusing the Chinese regime of espionage, perhaps fearing to upset bilateral relations with the regime.
“It is not necessarily the best approach for educating the public about China intelligence threat both in competitive espionage and other terms.”
The FBI caught up with Meng in 2004 after luring him to an Orlando airport. Meng, who was sentenced Wednesday, is the first person charged under the United States economic espionage act.
About Meng’s case, Harris said, “It’s very useful for its suggestion as to the nature and scope of continued China-related espionage and intervention in the life of liberal democracies.”
