On September 24, 2021, Canadian time, Ms. Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Ren Zhengfei, , the chairman of Huawei Group, successfully left Canada on a Chinese government charter flight and arrived in China on September 25, 2021.
Ms. Meng Wanzhou was maliciously detained by the Canadian government for more than a thousand days and nights, but compared to other Chinese scientists, she is lucky because many Chinese scientists have not been able to return to the embrace of their motherland, such as Zhang Hao professor.
In May 2015, Tianjin University professor Zhang Hao was invited to the United States to attend an academic technology seminar. However, when Zhang Hao arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport in the United States, he was arrested by the U.S. police on the charge of "economic espionage." A total of five Chinese citizens, including two Tianjin University teachers, were arrested together with Zhang Hao.
Professor Zhang Hao originally thought this was a misunderstanding, but he did not expect that this was a long-planned "fishing law enforcement" by the United States.
Meng Wanzhou
Zhang Hao, who are you? Why did the U.S. government arrest him?
Zhang Hao, born in 1979, majored in acoustic technology (thin film bulk acoustic resonator research, also known as FBAR technology) at the University of Southern California. While in college, he met Avago (Avago, now Broadcom) company Pang Wei, who works as an FBAR engineer.
In 2006, Zhang Hao successfully graduated from the University of Southern California and received a doctorate in electrical engineering. He later worked as an FBAR engineer at Skyworks, the world's leading wireless company.
In 2009, Zhang Hao resigned from his job at Skyworks in the United States and returned to China to serve as a professor at Tianjin University. In the same year, with Zhang Hao's resignation, Skyworks sold its FBAR technology to Avago.
Tianjin University
In 2011, Zhang Hao and Pang Wei founded Tianjin North Microsystems Co., Ltd. with Tianjin University. This was the first domestic company to produce FBAR filter at that time. The company has successively obtained more than 200 patents in the field of micro-electromechanical filter chips. patents, including 7 patent applications in the United States. The main product produced by
company is the FBAR filter, which is highly monopolized by American companies, that is, filter chip, also known as radio frequency chip. Why is this chip so important?
To give a simple example, why some people have applied for 5G mobile phone cards and 5G packages, but their mobile phones cannot receive 5G signals. The reason is because there is no such chip in the mobile phone.
Tianjin North Microsystems Co., Ltd.
In fact, Zhang Hao and Pang Wei were already leaders in the field as early as when they were working in the United States. When the two returned to China to establish the company, they improved the performance and power consumption of the FBAR filter. Improvement.
This move made the former Avago Company, which is now Broadcom, very angry. After all, the filter chip is the core technology of modern communication technology, , Internet of Things, 5G and other industries. This is a big deal for them. loss.
In 2012, under the guise of academic exchanges, Avago executives came to Tianjin North Microsystems, a company jointly established by Zhang Hao and others, for a so-called study visit. During the period, they offered to invest, provide scientific research funds, and cooperate together.
Zhang Hao and others
However, after Avago executives returned to the United States, they submitted a report to FBI titled "China's Tianjin University stole and copied Avago's patented product production line", and the report also requested FBI intervention. investigation.
At the same time, an American scholar James Mulvernon, who claimed to be an expert on Chinese military research, also submitted a report to the FBI. The report stated that because the scientific research funds and school-running funds of Tianjin University in China are all provided by China Education was approved and issued by the Ministry of Education of China, which is a functional government department.
So in their view, North Microsystems, a company founded by Tianjin University, Zhang Hao and others, is a company affiliated with the Chinese government.
After comprehensive investigation from various aspects, the FBI decided to arrest Zhang Hao and others.
Avago
wants to be convicted, but there is no excuse
Although the FBI has investigated Zhang Hao and others and approved their arrest, Zhang Hao and others are not on American soil, and the U.S. government cannot arrest them at all, so , Avago Company set a trap for Zhang Hao and others, under the guise of "academic seminar", invited Zhang Hao and others to come to Phoenix, United States for an academic visit.
During May 2015, when Zhang Hao and others landed at Los Angeles International Airport , they were arrested by the FBI as soon as they got off the plane.
Zhang Hao and others were charged by the U.S. FBI with 32 counts of economic espionage and theft of trade secrets.
The indictment also stated that Zhang Hao, Pang Wei and others obtained commercial technology from their original American employer company and returned to China to copy the technology product production line, causing economic and property losses to American companies, and these technologies may also be used in China's military field.
FBI
However, Zhang Hao and others are innocent and can withstand investigation.
But who knows, in order to incriminate others, the United States has secretly used many shameful means: forging evidence, hacking into Tianjin University's servers, and packaging "scientific public knowledge" that does not belong to anyone's patent scope. Avago’s “trade secrets” were used as evidence in court.
On May 18, 2015, Professor Zhang Hao appeared in court for the first time in Los Angeles. At this time, Zhang Hao was very calm in the court. He did not realize that the trial was just a formality and that the US government would not let him off easily.
According to US law, Zhang Hao must find a team of lawyers to protect his legitimate rights and interests with reasonable means. However, the cost of hiring a US lawyer team is very high, which is simply impossible for Professor Zhang Hao to get together.
Zhang Hao
On June 5, 2015, Tianjin University’s official Weibo issued a statement condemning the arrest of Professor Zhang Hao by the United States, and called on the general public and teachers and students of Tianjin University to donate to Professor Zhang Hao. After the first trial, Zhang Hao was released on bail after his relatives and friends used a property in , Florida, as a mortgage guarantee.
But then the US government detained Zhang Hao by the US Immigration Service on the grounds that he had "no visa". Although Zhang Hao was later released, he had to wear an electronic monitoring device every day and report regularly to the local judge. Only outdoor activities are allowed in Northern California from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day.
He also has some physical problems. He used to be able to run for more than ten kilometers without any problem, but now he can only run a few hundred meters at most. He often suffers from insomnia and vomiting at night.
Zhang Hao's wife also said that in 2016 and 2017, the US government repeatedly stated that it would hold a trial, but it was delayed due to various reasons. Each time it was suspended, it took at least half a year.
After the second half of 2018, the case was almost in a state of "complete suspension". It was pushed back and pushed again, leaving no hope at all.
Court trial
Professor Zhang Hao’s current situation
On September 1, 2020, U.S. time, a local court in the United States finally held a trial on the case of Zhang Hao, a professor at Tianjin University in China, for allegedly stealing trade secrets from an American company. The court sentenced a U.S. company to accuse Zhang Hao of Tianjin University in China. The professor was found guilty.
Zhang Hao was sentenced to 218 months in prison for three counts of stealing trade secrets and economic espionage, with compensation of US$477,000, and a prosecution period of 7 years. In court, the judge in San Jose, California suggested that Zhang Hao be sent to prison A low-security prison in California .
So far, there is no news about Professor Zhang Hao’s return to China, and it is still unknown when he will return to China.
Zhang Hao
Xu Jiali, director of the Intellectual Property Center of the University of Science and Technology Beijing, said that this case is a typical intellectual property dispute case, because it is mentioned in the indictment that Professor Zhang Hao and others applied for some patents in the United States. patent.
But according to the relevant laws of the US patent law, if Professor Zhang Hao has infringed on the trade secrets of American companies, then why does the United States still issue him a patent?
Secondly, Director Xu also said that the registered place of the company founded by Professor Zhang Hao is Cayman Islands . It is the whistleblower in this case in the United States. It is a competitor in the same industry and uses the law to suppress it in the United States. Competitors are a very common business tool.
chip
The US prosecution of Chinese scientists as "spies" is not just one or two incidents
Taiwan-born American scientists Li Wenhe were targeted by the FBI because they came to Beijing twice to attend academic seminars. Starting in 1996, Li Wenhe's phone calls were tapped and his work and life were completely disrupted.
After a three-year investigation, the FBI and other relevant departments announced that Li Wenhe's accusation of "espionage" was not established.
In September 2000, Li Wenhe, who had been imprisoned for nine months, was released.
Li Wenhe
Chen Xiafen, a Chinese-American scientist born in China, went to China to visit relatives in 2014 and reunited with relatives and old classmates. After returning to the United States, Chen Xiafen was arrested by the FBI in the office of the United States Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on suspicion of working for China. Espionage arrests.
Just because some of Chen Xiafen’s old classmates are working in China’s water conservancy department. In March 2015, one week before Chen Xiafen appeared in court, the U.S. prosecutors dropped all charges against Chen Xiafen without any notice.
Xi Xiaoxing, a visiting professor at the School of Physics at Peking University, was arrested at his home in the suburbs of Philadelphia in May 2015 because he was accused of allegedly transporting superconducting technology to China and endangering U.S. national security.
At the hearing in the Philadelphia Federal Court, Xi Xiaoxing was charged with communications fraud and other crimes. After the trial, Xi Xiaoxing paid a bail of US$100,000.
Chen Xiafen
Why does the United States target Chinese scientists so much?
Whether it is the Zhang Hao case or the alleged "spygate" incident involving other Chinese scientists, it is not difficult to see that the United States is targeting China because the United States now feels threatened by the rise of China's hard power in science and technology, economy, etc., and they are afraid China surpasses the United States.
Why are they afraid? Because they know that if China is not contained, the United States' status as the "world leader" may not be guaranteed, so they can only put pressure on China through such "made-up charges".
Increasing tariffs on China, imposing sanctions on Chinese companies, etc. clearly show that the United States is afraid of China's rise.
Zhang Hao
The most obvious of these is the chip industry. On October 25, 2020, the original plan of SMIC to order a US$120 million lithography machine from ASML was finally canceled due to heavy obstruction from the United States. It could not be handed over to SMIC.
The reason is very simple, because equipment export requires a license. In this regard, ASML must listen to the United States. Without the permission of the United States, the lithography machine cannot be delivered.
Although the core technology of chip manufacturing has so far been mastered by powerful countries led by the United States, China's road to independently developing chips has never stopped.
chip
On June 24, 2022, the domestic CPU company " Loongson Zhongke " was successfully listed. The company was founded in 2008, and its core technical personnel are all from Chinese Academy of Sciences .
When interviewed by reporters, Hu Weiwu, chairman of Loongson Zhongke, said: "The original intention is easy to get, but it is always difficult to keep.
After 20 years of development, Loongson is standing at an important historical turning point.
Starting from the CPU We will go on a new journey from the "necessary kingdom" of follow-up development to the "free kingdom" of independent development. The middle current hits the water, and the waves stop the flying boat.[1]"
Reference
[1] Wang Chao. Starting a new journey of independent information industry ecological construction - Interview with Hu Weiwu, Chairman of Loongson Zhongke Technology Co., Ltd. [J]. Information Security and Communication Confidentiality, 2021(11) :61-65. DOI:10.3969/j.issn.1009-8054.2021.11.008.
