(DailyDig.com) – China and the US aren’t on the best terms. So, when intelligence experts discover someone supplying China with American tech, it instantly sparks concern. One foreign national recently faced smuggling charges for his role in a covert effort to export goods.
District Judge Denise Casper handed LinkOcean Technologies LLC founder Shuren Qin a two-year prison sentence on September 8 after the man pleaded guilty to illegally exporting hydrophones.
Chinese National Jailed For Smuggling US Marine Tech to China https://t.co/5jkO0CDmJO
— The Jacob Johnston Show (@JohnstonShow) September 9, 2021
Hydrophones have both military and industrial applications; they monitor noise levels underwater.
The recipient, a Chinese military research facility known as Northwestern Polytechnical University (NWPU), allegedly has a close working relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Notably, the CCP is currently developing underwater drones.
Qin wasn’t licensed to export technologies. The long list of charges associated with his crimes included lying to law enforcement, visa fraud, and money laundering.
Qin’s legal representation claimed the man didn’t know what the NWPU intended to do with the hydrophones. He argued the devices “are not top-secret technologies,” suggesting that both civilians and scientists often make use of them. Judge Casper apparently wasn’t convinced.
A memo from the Department of Justice says Quin attempted to suppress evidence found on his laptop and iPhone while fighting the charges. Judge Casper later said the data confirms the Chinese Navy was, in fact, one of Qin’s customers.
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