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LOS ANGELES : A Chinese-born engineer will go on trial in a California court on Tuesday charged with smuggling sensitive technology about US Navy submarines to China.
Chi Mak, 66, an engineer working for a US company with several Navy contracts, is accused of trying to export intelligence about silent submarines in October 2005 in a plot that involved four members of his family.
Mak, who is also charged with acting as an agent of China in the United States and making false statements, was arrested after agents swooped on two relatives at Los Angeles Airport as they prepared to board a flight to Hong Kong.
According to Justice Department documents, the duo were caught with a disk containing sensitive encrypted data on US submarines hidden in a English-language CD course.
Mak's trial opens in Santa Ana on Tuesday with jury selection while his relatives, including a brother, are expected to stand trial in May.
Mak has not been formally charged with espionage because the information on the disk has not officially been deemed classified.
Instead prosecutors say the data relates to weapons-related technology that requires an appropriate export licence, which Mak never sought.
Mak, a US citizen who was born in Guangzhou, China, has denied the charges.
Defence lawyer Ronald Kaye has described his client as having an "unblemished" character.
Kaye has also said all the data referred to in the case was made available at a public conference, and so cannot be described as secret.
The investigation into Mak began in early 2004, when federal agents began audio and video surveillance of the engineer and his family.
Although the case is not an espionage trial, prosecution documents give an insight into a shadowy world of intrigue, revealing Chinese intelligence's use of code names such as Red Flower, Winter Chrysanthemum and Autumn Orchid.
After raiding Mak's home, prosecutors say they also discovered a 'wish-list' of US military technology, including information on missile defence and torpedo systems.
The trial comes amid increasing concern in the US about the activities of Chinese intelligence agencies.
A senior official said in remarks published earlier this month that Chinese agents were the most active in the world and were aggressively pursuing advanced technology.
"The technology bleed to China, among others, is a very serious problem," Joel Brenner, the new head of the Office of National Counterintelligence Executive, told The Washington Times. - AFP/ch
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