2 Chinese nationals charged for plots to smuggle aviation, submarine components to China

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The Department of Justice alleged that two Chinese nationals illegally exported US military secrets and technology to China.

On April 14 Fuyi Sun, aka Frank, 52, a citizen of the People’s Republic of China, was arrested for allegedly trying to export high-grade carbon fibre, which is used for military aviation applications like the construction of drones.

“Sun allegedly attempted to procure high grade carbon fiber for a source he repeatedly identified as the Chinese military,” said Assistant Attorney General Carlin in a DoJ release.

"The carbon fiber – which has many aerospace and defense applications – is strictly controlled, and Sun expressed a willingness to pay a premium to skirt US export laws."

“As alleged, Fuyi Sun attempted for years to acquire high-grade carbon fiber for illegal export to China,” said US Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York in the same release.

“Earlier this week, after traveling to New York from China to finalize the deal, Sun allegedly told undercover agents that the carbon fiber he sought was headed for the Chinese military, and then paid tens of thousands of dollars in cash to purchase two cases of it. And to avoid law enforcement detection, Sun allegedly directed the undercover agents to ship the carbon fiber in unmarked boxes and to falsify the shipping documents regarding the contents of the boxes,” Bahara continued.

In a separate incident, the DoJ charged Amin Yu, 53, of Orlando, Florida with acting as a foreign agent, conspiring to defraud and commit offenses against the US, unlawfully exporting information smuggling goods from the US to China, and conspiring to and committing international money laundering and making false statements to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

"According to the superseding indictment, from at least 2002 until approximately February 2014, Yu obtained systems and components for marine submersible vehicles from companies in the United States," the DoJ release reads.

Feng Li / Getty

These allegations come as China makes a massive push towards military modernization, possibly bolstered by the cyber theft of US military technology, as numerous and credible reports indicate.

Currently, China is developing two fifth-generation combat jets, as well as new submarines. Additionally, they have begun installing military hardware on man-made islands in the South China Sea, much to the worry of their neighbors in the Pacific. 

In both Yu's and Sun's cases, the maximum sentence for their crimes, should they be found guilty, is 10 years.

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