Former Pentagon official pleads guilty in China spy case

[babylonsister]

Former Pentagon official pleads guilty in China spy case
The case involves classified Taiwan weapons data and follows admissions about an errant shipment of nuclear fuses to Taiwan.
By Simon Montlake

from the April 2, 2008 edition


A former Pentagon official pleaded guilty in court Monday to an espionage charge over the disclosure of secret data to an alleged Chinese agent in the US. Gregg Bergersen said he was unaware that the Taiwan-born businessman was passing the information to China. Mr. Bergersen, a weapons systems policy analyst who resigned his job last week, could face up to 10 years in prison.

The leaked data concerned US weapons programs for Taiwan, which China has threatened to regain by force, if necessary. Taiwan is a potential flash point for US-China rivalry in East Asia, and US military support for Taiwan is an irritant to Beijing. In turn, Taiwan has flagged China's steady buildup of missiles capable of hitting Taiwan. US military officials have warned that China and Russia have stepped up military spying activities in recent years, focusing on advanced weapon technology.

Last week, US officials anxiously contacted China after the Pentagon revealed that it had sent nuclear fuses to Taiwan by mistake in 2006, an embarrassing admission that raised eyebrows over US safeguards on nuclear-related technology, reports the Los Angeles Times. The admission sent mixed signals about US-Taiwan relations.

Chinese espionage has become a serious counterintelligence challenge, reports The Christian Science Monitor. US analysts say China employs a large network to acquire sensitive data in small chunks with students and scientists among those recruited.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0401/p99s01-duts.html