Frank Wolf (R-Va.)
The US Justice Department has filed charges against a Chinese researcher it nabbed off a China-bound airplane on Saturday night as it was pulling away from the gate at Dulles International Airport. Bo Jiang, who is suspected of spying, held a one-way ticket and lots of sensitive information, according to CBS News. He will appear for a detention hearing on Thursday.
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) has officially accused Jiang, a Chinese national who had access to classified information at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., of being a spy. As Wolf told Discovery News:
“What they did here potentially could be a direct threat to our country,” Wolf told Discovery News in a telephone interview. “The Chinese have the most comprehensive spying program in Washington that has ever been. They make the KGB look like they were the junior varsity or freshman team.”
The FBI appearently had been on Jiang’s case for a week, with Wolf first publicly outing Jiang on Wednesday, March 13.
Just last week, the FBI had opened an active investigation into whether Jiang, a Chinese national, might have violated the federal Arms Export Control Act, according to an FBI affidavit. But on Friday, agents learned that Jiang “was leaving the United States to abruptly return to China,” according to the affidavit, the contents of which were reported by The Daily Press of Hampton Roads, Va.
“Jiang told the Homeland Security Agent that he had a cellphone, a memory stick, an external hard drive and a new computer,” FBI Special Agent Rhonda A. Squizzero wrote in the affidavit for the arrest warrant. “However, during the search, other media items were located that Jiang did not reveal. Such items found include an additional laptop, an old hard drive and a SIM card.”
Spy thriller? You’ll have to use your imagination a little, but future screenwriters could do a lot with the scene in which Jiang’s pulled off his plane. The script remains unfinished, of course.
(Image AP via CBS News)
Reaching new levels of absurdity. How long before job applications say “no Chinese allowed?”
@Andao
I’ve seen several hundred job offers in China that say “no blacks” or “no middle eastern”, so what’s your point?
I guess I have low expectations for Chinese companies so I would expect to see that. But adding “No Chinese allowed because you’re probably a spy” to a US job posting might be interesting.
If he is guilty, I’d like to hear his motivation. Does NASA really pay that poorly, so he was easy to bribe? Does he think stealing for corrupt Chinese SOEs is “patriotic”?
And when they do that, I’ll happily decry it. Until then.
Lets see how this ends up being nothing at all. OMG he has a laptop! and a cellphone! He’s a Chinese national and headed back to China a week after a smear campaign targeting him is basically threatening his life. Yep, getting the fuck out is basically the rational choice here. Obvious guilt!
Oh america, will you ever stop being so hilariously incompetent?
Or guys…maybe the guy is ACTUALLY stealing sensitive information? It kinda happens all the time you know.
He’s guilty. Chinese simply cannot be trusted with technology in the US. That facts–recent history proves it
But the real question surely must be: Was he carrying a GPS-enabled phone?