| China's Industrial Spies Pose Serious Threat | |
|---|---|
| Dec 4, 2007 19:20 |   |
 | A report in a recent issue of German news magazine Der Spiegel said Chinese expatriates are involved in most of the industrial espionage cases that occur in Germany. "Chinese residents and students in particular are working in large groups as 'yellow spies,'" the report "Die Gelben Spione (The Yellow Spies)" said. "The 'yellow spies' concentrate on gathering intelligence on Germany's state-of-the-art science, technologies, and industries. Disguised as diplomats or journalists, many of them collect political, economic and military secrets." In an interview, an official with Germany's domestic intelligence agency BfV, or Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, said, "Chinese intelligence agents pose a serious threat to Germany's security, as Germany plays an important role in the EU and NATO and many German enterprises possess cutting-edge technologies." Der Spiegel is not the only media outlet that is making a fuss about Chinese spying. Major European newspapers have been sounding the alarm about the threat one after the next. The Times of London reported last Saturday, "In an unprecedented alert, the Director-General of MI5 sent a confidential letter to 300 chief executives and security chiefs at banks, accountants and legal firms this week warning them that they were under attack from 'Chinese state organizations.'" Le Monde of France reported on Sept. 8 that the office of the French prime minister was cyberattacked by hackers presumed to be working for the PLA. The Financial Times of Britain wrote on Sept. 4, "The Chinese military sent a shiver down the Pentagon's spine in June by successfully hacking into an unclassified network used by the top policy advisers to Robert Gates, the defense secretary." An annual report by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation said there has been a 20 to 30 percent jump in the number of Chinese espionage cases in the U.S. technology hotbed of Silicon Valley. Time magazine reported in February 2005 that over 3,000 companies in the U.S. are suspected of gathering intelligence for China. A source who has worked with a number of Ivy League universities and research centers said that many of these companies are fronts for the PLA. Chinese industrial espionage reportedly costs American businesses more than US$45 billion in damages a year. Experts predict that China will intensify its industrial spying because it is in dire need of cutting-edge technologies as it moves away from manufacturing only knock-offs and bargain goods toward becoming an advanced industrial and military power. I read this from the newspaper, Chosun Daily Newspaper, which is the most popular newspaper in South Korea, yesterday. We have these kind of instance in Korea. As you see in the picture, Chinese Cherry company has the same car model with Korean Daewoo company. I would like to ask people from other countries including China. What are your opinions?  |
| Dec 5, 2007 04:04 | #1 |
| Recently, the Sino-Germany relation is experiencing bad days. Is it this book? |
| Dec 5, 2007 04:07 | #2 |
| I read another version on this topic. Here I want to share with you: How can "press freedom" be misused indiscriminately? On august 27, German''s "Mirror" weekly had on its cover the reflection of China''s national flag in a curtain-shape with a Chinese female face peeping out from behind. The cover story is titled "Yellow Spy", which implies that China has something to do with a lot of industrial espionages in the country over recent years. On November 10, the Federation of Chinese student organizations and the All-German Federation of Chinese Nationals Bodies, and other relevant organizations in Germany demonstrated at the magazine''s headquarters in downtown Hamburg, and a letter in protest entitled "We Are Definitely Not ''Yellow Spies'' but People from China," was lodged during the protest. The "Mirror" weekly has released quite a lot of false, negative reports about China in recent two years, among which there were a cover article filed in September 2006, titled "Intrusion from Far East -- for a rich world war" and Chinese Trojan Horse (or hackers) Infects Computers in German Chancellor''s Office". These conjecture reports have tarnished the very image of China and inflicted grave harassments upon its nationals residing in Germany. And a few Chinese students at Chmnitz Tech University, too, were charged with "espionage" and their photos printed inside the weekly, which subsequently turned down requests of local Chinese nationals to clarify the false accusation. Facing protests of the Chinese nationals residing in Germany, the "Mirror" spokesperson quibbled, citing the title of "Yellow Spy" merely as an innuendo, and his explanation, however, did not hold water. As a matter of fact, the word "yellow" the weekly invokes has apparent hallmarks of the race and its use here is obviously discriminatory. In accordance with German law, racism and racial discrimination have to be rigidly prohibited, and the "Mirror" weekly misused the term "press freedom" indiscriminately and violated the taboo. |
| Dec 5, 2007 04:08 | #3 |
| Nationals of the Chinese origin constitutes a disadvantageous minority ethnic group in Germany, which should have deserved meticulous care and attention. The "Mirror" weekly, on the contrarily, stirred up distorted views in society based on hearsay to attempt for their persecution. This one-sided, unilateral "press freedom" is almost tantamount to inciting opinions against them. So people cannot but think of a social tragedy which had occurred in German history. Meanwhile, the "Mirror" weekly has groundlessly distorted and played down the Chinese culture, and smeared it as a culture with the infringement of intellectual property. Such a notion in violation of the basic values of the modern civilization is precisely a sort of typical cultural chauvinism, which poses a prelude of the rise of such remaining cultural or social dregs as racism and colonialism and, therefore, is the very thing to brewage all social tragedies in modern times. Some Western nations have stirred up wave upon waves of the so-called "Chinese spies" over recent years, and such practice has brought untold harms to all those accused. Behind the scene, nevertheless, there is an intrinsic mentality of belittling or despising China. In other words, the Chinese nation, according to the mentality, has neither the capacity nor the right to obtain its economic progress and development. If the nation has scored some successes, it is certain that it has have "stolen from others" and, in the words of the "Mirror", it could be an "intrusion." All nations are equal before the right to development, and an aspiration for the pursuit of affluence is common for all humanity and, therefore, it is innate and endowed by the nature. So it can be only natural that China, too, should enjoy this right. Hence, China''s development cannot be halted by the surmise of "those who presume others as suspects for having stolen the axe," as a popular classic Chinese saying goes. (By People''s Daily Online, and its author is senior PD editor Huang Qing) |
| Dec 6, 2007 00:22 | #4 |
| While reading the article in you reply, I've felt two kinds of feelings. At first, I reflected on my narrow-mindedness. I just read the artile I posted in my thread. In my common life, I often encounter friends who quarreled. And whenever it happens, I tend to hear words from both of them. Hearing one of them is not objective, I think. But for this "Yello spy" thing, I could not be that objective. So I reflected on myself. However, when I noticed that the article you posted was written by a Chinese , I was a bit dissapointed. If the second version of "Yello spy" were written by the third person, it could be more objective. So I felt sorry for that. What I think is that some of the Chinese people obviously plagiarize other peoples' ideas. But not all of the Chinese did. And there would be some other nation's people stealling other peoples' intellectual properties. So, both writer who writes the article and reader who reads article have to try to be more objective. |
| Dec 6, 2007 01:40 | #5 |
| STELLA8455, My intention is to offer a different understanding of the issue of "Yellow Spies" to you. I agree with you that if the above piece of writing is written by a third party if would be better and objective. It is a pity that the review is from a Chinese person's perspective. I understand that intellectual property right(IPR) infringement is a grave problem in China. I don't know how is the situation in other countries. China hasn't established a perfect IPR protection system. However, as to the issue of industrial spies, it is a very subtle issue. Here let's take Auto Industry as an example: As we know, with the development of integration of global technology, various coutries have "borrowed" some technology from other countries. Germany and China have many cooperations in auto industry. So it is very likely that Chinese auto-manufacturers bring in some new technologies from its German counterparts. "Chinese Cherry company has the same car model with Korean Daewoo company." I am not sure that you mean the Cherry car looks like the Daewoo car in appearance( I am an outsider of auto-industry.). If they are similar only in appearance, it is quite possible and acceptable as long as Chinese Cherry didn't steal "technology" and "design" from Korean Daewoo company. Certainly, this is only an assumption. You and me are not insiders. My intention of posting the above reply is just to offer you a chance to see how the two participating two parties view the same issue from totallly different perspectives. It is just a trial in a court. Before the verdict, we have to hear the opinions from the plaintiff and the defender. |
| Dec 6, 2007 02:59 | #6 |
| LEONARDO, I totally understood what you intended. So don't worry about that :) Because my mother language in not English, I have some troubles in English writing. I hope you might not misunderstand my wrting, I had no other bad thoghts about your post. And about the Cherry company car, it has the same appearance and, also has other things in common. For example, inner design, bumper, headlight, and other parts of automobile. Cherry company keep insists that QQ is self-developed. So it have been a big issue in Korea. As you said, because we're not insiders, we have no idea about the fact. And I fully agree that "we have to hear the opinions from the plaintiff and the defender". So I'd like to hear what Chinese people think about this matter. For last, thanks for you kind reply :) |
| Dec 6, 2007 03:31 | #7 |
| Hi STELLA8455, I didn't misunderstand your posts. Don't worry. You have a good writing ability. (BTW, English is not my mother tongue either). As I have mentioned in my previous post, my words about Cherry case is only an assumption. If Cherry really stole intellictual properties from Korea, it is a shame and it will be not good for the enhancement of China's capacity of innovation. I really appreciate what you have said. You are very intelligent. Nice to exchange thoughts with you. |
| Dec 8, 2007 10:40 | #8 |
| Leonardo: You said the newspaper made 'false ....reports' and made 'false accusations'. How do you know they were false? You'd like to think they are, but perhaps there is some truth. I know that neither you nor I can tell at this point. Do you really think there is no industrial espionage being conducted by Chinese companies or the government? If so you have been reading too many fairy tales. Just as there is corruption in business around the world, so there is commercial espionage. Remember MacLaren the Formula 1 team that was fined by the sports governing body for spying on Ferrari? Surely you don't think it was only one team. In one of my quotes I left out the word 'negative'. You don't like negative reports about China. Fair enough, I assume you are equally upset about negative reports in China about Japan. There might be good reasons to be negative about Japan, and there might be good reasons to be negative about China on this issue. I agree with you that the language would seem likely to have broken German Law on racial vilification in some of the language it used. If so, they should be prosecuted for that. |
Post a Reply to: China's Industrial Spies Pose Serious Threat
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.