Chinese professor Zhang Hao to lead his own defence in US economic espionage trial
- Zhang, the only one of six defendants in US, may seek to prove he took part in ‘free and open exchange of ideas’
- Prosecutors claim technology theft was channelled through Cayman Islands company
US prosecutors say academic Zhang Hao is a spy who conspired with a colleague from the University of Southern California to steal and sell American secrets to the Chinese government and military through a shell company in the Cayman Islands.
Zhang’s lawyers will try to show at a trial set for Wednesday that his work at one of China’s most prestigious technical universities to develop radio-filtering technology used in mobile phones has always been about advancing scientific knowledge and not for the benefit of the Chinese state.
The trial comes amid a crackdown on Chinese theft of intellectual property that began during the presidency of Barack Obama – before Zhang was arrested in 2015 when he attended a conference in Los Angeles – and has escalated during Donald Trump’s trade war with China.
Zhang could face a lengthy prison term in the United States if found guilty of stealing trade secrets and a more serious charge, economic espionage. Such cases rarely go to trial, but Zhang’s is also unusual because he has chosen to defend himself before a judge in federal court in San Jose, California, instead of a jury.
The trial is expected to last a day or two, hastened by the professor’s agreement not to fight evidence against him that a federal prosecutor described as “overwhelming.”