US researcher Chenguang Gong arrested for stealing trade secrets, including missile tracking tech
- Gong allegedly transferred over 3,600 files from his workplace – including blueprints for sensors used to detect nuclear launches – to personal storage devices
- The US citizen had previously sought to provide China with information to aid its military, according to US Attorney Martin Estrada
A US researcher has been arrested on charges of stealing trade secrets, including technology used to detect nuclear missile launches, the Justice Department said Wednesday.
Chenguang Gong, 57, of San Jose, California, was arrested on Tuesday, the department said in a statement.
Gong, who was born in China but became a US citizen in 2011, is accused of transferring more than 3,600 files from the research and development company where he briefly worked to personal storage devices. The company was not identified.
According to court documents, the files included blueprints for infrared sensors used in space-based systems to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles.
The files also allegedly included blueprints for sensors designed to enable US military aircraft to detect heat-seeking missiles and take countermeasures.
US Attorney Martin Estrada said Gong “had previously sought to provide the People’s Republic of China with information to aid its military”.