美国以经济间谍罪名起诉六名中国公民

US authorities have charged three Tianjin University professors and three other Chinese citizens with economic espionage, claiming that they stole sensitive US technology to help Chinese universities and government-controlled companies.

美国有关部门已对包括天津大学三名教授在内的六名中国公民提出刑事控罪，指控他们从事经济间谍活动，称他们窃取敏感的美国技术以帮助中国的大学以及受政府控制的企业。

One of the six defendants, Professor Hao Zhang, was arrested on Saturday when he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to speak at a conference. The other suspects are still in China.

六名被告之一的张浩教授在上周六抵达洛杉矶国际机场、准备在一个会议上发言时被逮捕。其他犯罪嫌疑人仍在中国。

Mr Zhang and fellow professor Wei Pang are accused of stealing information about a technology used in smartphones, tablets and GPS devices from their US employers, Skyworks Solutions in Massachusetts andAvago Technologies in Colorado, respectively. The technology also has military applications.

张浩和同校教授庞慰被指控从其美国雇主——分别是马萨诸塞州的思佳讯通讯技术公司(Skyworks Solutions)和科罗拉多州的安华高科技公司(Avago Technologies)——窃取应用在智能手机、平板电脑和GPS设备的一种技术的资料。这种技术也有军事用途。

The charges represent the latest sign of the US ratcheting up pressure on China’s alleged efforts to spy on US companies and steal their trade secrets through cyber attacks or traditional espionage techniques.

这些刑事指控是美国对中国加大压力的最新迹象，美方称，中国通过网络攻击或传统的间谍手法，对美国企业从事间谍活动，窃取它们的商业秘密。

The charges follow the indictment of five Chinese soldiers in 2014 for cyber attacks and economic espionage on US companies. Tuesday’s announcement marks the 11th time that prosecutors have levelled economic espionage charges since the related law was passed in 1996.

提出这些刑事指控之前，美方已在2014年对五名中国军人提出刑事控罪，指控他们对美国企业发动网络攻击和从事经济间谍活动。周二的消息标志着，自1996年通过相关法律以来，美国检方第11次提出经济间谍控罪。

In 2014, a consultant called Walter Liew was found guilty of 22 counts of economic espionage for stealing information about how DuPont creates a white pigment found in paper and plastic products, to sell to a Chinese company.

2014年，美籍华裔顾问刘元轩(Walter Liew)被判22项经济间谍罪名成立，他被控窃取杜邦公司(DuPont)一种白色颜料的制造工艺，将其转卖给一家中国公司。

In the latest case, the stolen trade secrets include recipes, source code, specifications, presentations, design layouts and other documents, according to the 32-count indictment that was recently unsealed.

在最新的案子中，按照刚刚公布的包含32项罪名的刑事起诉书，被窃取的商业秘密包括配方、源代码、规格、演示、设计布局和其他文件。

An attorney for Mr Zhang did not respond to a request for comment. Skyworks and Avago were not immediately available for comment.

张浩的一名律师没有回复记者的置评请求。记者一时联系不上思佳讯通讯技术公司和安华高科技公司的内部人员请其置评。

Messrs Zhang and Pang met when they were studying the technology, known as thin-film bulk acoustic resonator or FBAR, as electrical engineering doctoral students in California. Their research was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, which creates technology used by the US military and national security agencies.

张浩和庞慰是在他们作为电气工程博士生在加利福尼亚研究涉案技术——薄膜体声波谐振器(FBAR)技术时认识的。当时他们的研究经费来自美国国防高级研究计划局(DARPA)，该局负责研发美国军方和国家安全机构所用的技术。

FBAR technology, which filters wireless signals to receive and send only what is intended by the user, is also used in military and defence products.

FBAR技术可被用来过滤无线信号，以便只收发用户需要的信号。它也被用于军用和国防产品。

Professors Pang and Zhang, along with others, set up a business plan and pitched Chinese universities on manufacturing FBAR technology in China, the indictment said.

起诉书称，庞慰、张浩等人拟定了一个商业计划，向中国的大学兜售在中国制造FBAR技术的想法。

“The defendants leveraged their access to and knowledge of sensitive US technologies to illegally obtain and share US trade secrets with [China] for economic advantage,” said Assistant Attorney General John Carlin.

“被告利用其能够获取敏感美国技术的便利，及其对此类技术的知识，非法获得并与（中国）分享美国的商业秘密，以获取经济优势，”美国司法部官员约翰•卡林(John Carlin)表示。

In 2008, officials from Tianjin University, a Chinese Ministry of Education institution, travelled to California to meet Messrs Pang and Zhang, after which the university decided to establish a FBAR fabrication facility in China, prosecutors charged.

检方指控，2008年，隶属中国教育部的天津大学的一批官员前往美国加州与庞慰和张浩会面，之后，该校决定在中国成立一家FBAR制造厂。

The following year, Messrs Pang and Zhang resigned from Avago and Skyworks to become professors at Tianjin University, which formed a joint venture named ROFS Microsystem with the two men and others.

次年，庞慰和张浩分别从安华高科技公司和思佳讯通讯技术公司辞职，成为天津大学的教授，该校与庞、张等人成立了一家合资企业，称为诺思（天津）微系统公司(ROFS Microsystem)。

The stolen trade secrets helped the university establish a state of the art FBAR fabrication facility and to obtain contracts for providing FBARs to commercial and military entities, according to the indictment.

起诉书称，被窃取的商业机密帮助天津大学建立了一家先进的FBAR制造厂，获得了向商业和军方机构提供FBAR器件的合同。

The other Chinese citizens who were indicted include Tianjin professor Jinping Chen, who is also a board director at ROFS Microsystems, and Huisui Zhang, who studied with Messrs Pang and Zhang in California.

被起诉的其他中国公民包括天津大学教授陈金平（音），他也是诺思（天津）微系统公司的董事会成员；以及张会遂（音），他曾与张浩和庞慰一起在加州学习。

Also charged were Chong Zhou, a Tianjin graduate student and a design engineer at ROFS Microsystem, and Zhao Gang, general manager of ROFS Microsystem.

另两名被告是天津大学研究生周冲（音）和诺思（天津）微系统公司总经理赵刚（音），周冲也是该公司的一名设计工程师。

“The conduct reveals a methodical and relentless effort by foreign interests to obtain and exploit sensitive and valuable US technology through the use of individuals operating within the United States,” said David Johnson, the FBI Special Agent in Charge.

“本案的行为揭示了境外利益有条不紊和不懈的努力，他们借助在美国境内活动的个人，获取、利用敏感和有价值的美国技术，”美国联邦调查局特工主管戴维•约翰逊(David Johnson)表示。