US charges two over 'China plot'

A US jury has accused two foreign nationals of trying to buy military aircraft engines and weapons to export to China.

A Miami jury also charged one the suspects, Taiwanese Ko-Suen Moo, with being a covert Chinese agent and offering a bribe to escape custody.

Mr Moo was arrested in Miami in November 2005.

A French national, Maurice Serge Voros, was also charged in the indictment. He remains at large.

According to the nine-count indictment, Mr Moo and Mr Voros sought to acquire an F-16 engine, Blackhawk helicopter engines and cruise missiles early last year.

They are alleged to have initially sought to buy and ship 70 Blackhawk engines to China, but that Mr Moo decided to acquire the jet engine as a priority.

The indictment says the defendants violated the US Arms Export Control Act by attempting to export the items without a licence.

Military balance

Mr Moo has been in custody in Miami after being charged in an earlier grand jury indictment. He has pleaded not guilty to the illegal export charges.

The new indictment brought the agent and $500,000 bribery charges against Mr Moo and also added Mr Voros to the case.

The US has repeatedly expressed its concern at the amount of money China is spending on its military, and has warned it could soon alter the military balance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Washington is particularly concerned about a build-up of Chinese missiles pointed at Taiwan, which Beijing has threatened to seize by force if the island moves towards formal independence.

This could quickly embroil the US, which has given security assurances to Taiwan.

BEIJING (Reuters) - China rejected charges on Tuesday that it had covert agents operating in the United States to export military equipment, calling such accusations groundless.

U.S. prosecutors last week charged a Taiwanese citizen and a Frenchman of trying to illegally export an F-16 jet engine, Blackhawk helicopter engines and cruise missiles to China, alleging they violated the Arms Export Control Act.

"This kind of accusation that China is collecting scientific and military intelligence is groundless," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference.

"China's military imports go through strict surveillance. Chinese enterprises will never purchase any military goods that cannot provide legal documents," Liu said.

Washington has repeatedly expressed concern about Beijing's intentions as it pours more money into its military, and believes its military growth could upset the balance of power with Taiwan, which relies on U.S. weaponry to defend itself.

China has vowed to attack Taiwan, the self-ruled island it claims as its own, if it formally declares independence. Such a fight could embroil the United States, which has diplomatic ties with Beijing but has pledged to defend Taiwan in case of attack.

China also distanced itself from an investigation in Tokyo into Japan's Mitutoyo Corp., which Japanese media said was suspected of exporting equipment that could be used in producing nuclear weapons.

Police believe Mitutoyo, which produces and sells precision measuring equipment, illegally sold equipment that could be used to enrich uranium to Japanese companies in China and Thailand. A similar device made by the firm was found in Libya, the reports said.

Liu said the charges concerned Mitutoyo and its subsidiaries alone.

"We investigated this issue and found it has nothing to do with China," he said.

"China's position on nonproliferation is clear. We resolutely oppose any proliferation," Liu said, adding that China abides by the regulations of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

well i dont belive in it why

:china: ROCKS :nana:

well they are talking abt engines, china has hand on very good engines including the TVC from Russsia then why from USA

if it was any thing to do with stealth fighters or some weapons really good ones then some thing to belive

With some 13,150 kg of thrust, the f-16s pratt and whitney engine doesnt compare up to ws-10a or the al-31m1. China is already able to obtain black hawk engines under the guise of "himanitarian" missions in tibet. Cruise missles? they must be joking. the U.S doesnt sell tomahawks to anyone except britain(recently cleard to Netherlands). There is no way these two guys could have gotten their hands on a cruise missle.

One flaw in China's technology today is that China does not have the ability to construct Jet engines, (I don't know why). In this case, there is a possibility some guy is trying to aquire these engines, but I doubt they could aquire any U.S. tech. They could only get something related to this from Russia or the Black Market so to speak. I also doubt the Chinese government is really trying to steal technology from other countries threatening relationships especially the United States.

renmin said:

I also doubt the Chinese government is really trying to steal technology from other countries threatening relationships especially the United States.

Click to expand...

Well we can't be sure, can we? I don't think that the Chinese government would just pass up an opportunity to acquire new technology, but perhaps these people (if they are guilty) were acting on the orders of a company, syndicate, whatever - more "industrial espionage" than the CCP saying "relevant technology detected - ASSIMILATE!"

Hopefully they will receive a fair trial and justice will be done.