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The Dynamics of Chinese IP Theft
Chinese nontraditional collection and IP theft is not done randomly by individuals acting on their own. Rather, China has enacted some two dozen laws that have created a state-
run foreign technology transfer apparatus that sponsors, for example, labs in China that rely wholly on information provided by compatriots working abroad. The apparatus also maintains databases of foreign co-optees and distributes stipends, sinecures, and cash to foreign donors of high-tech innovations. In addition, the apparatus is responsible for the care and feeding of agents willing to “serve China while in place” abroad.
Targets
China targets all sources of American innovation, including universities, corporations,
and government labs, exploiting both their openness and naiveté. The methods and tradecraft are custom-tailored to each target. For universities, China takes advantage of the commitment to intellectual freedom on campus, which strongly resists government scrutiny of the activities of foreign students in hard science programs and international academic cooperation. For corporations, the lure of the China market gives Beijing tremendous leverage in exacting tech transfer from American firms, combined with financial incentives for employees to purloin intellectual property for personal gain. Finally, US government labs have a historic commitment to international scientific cooperation, and an uneven record of monitoring that cooperation for unsanctioned transfers of information.
These efforts complement China’s legitimate efforts to invest in its own indigenous innovative capacity. China has for several decades made science and technology development a priority and appears to have the political will to see it through. This is demonstrated by the R&D funding programs it has put into place, the investment in core scientific infrastructure that is in some cases unparalleled anywhere else in the world, and a national scientifically oriented industrial policy. Yet the continuing intense engagement in IP theft is, in many ways, an indication of the gaps in China’s indigenous innovation efforts.
Once acquired, foreign technology is converted in China into products and weapons at 180 “Pioneering Parks for Overseas Chinese Scholars,” 160 “Innovation Service Centers,” 276 “National Technology Model Transfer Organizations,” and an unknown number of “technology business incubators.” These facilities are strategically located to ensure wide distribution of the foreign technologies.
Nontraditional Collectors
Nontraditional collectors include Chinese citizens, Chinese Americans with whom the Chinese government is better able to cultivate or coerce, and other Americans. They range from students to researchers. Many are willing participants, such as students from
Technology and Research
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