Theft is certainly more than simple shoplifting. Theft can take the form of stolen products, stolen identity. In the 19602 espionage was fun and exciting, despite still being illegal. It was 007 James Bond versus the bad guys.
In real life it is stealing plain and simple. There is nothing sexy or romantic about it.
DuPont is one of America’s largest corporations. This behemoth had some of its “industrial secrets” stolen by a Chinese company that has been brought up on economic espionage-related charges.
According to Reuters, the Chinese firm, Pangang Group, has been indicted for conspiracy to commit economic espionage and other charges including conspiracy to steal trade secrets.
Pangang, a state-owned steel manufacturer in Sichuan province, allegedly worked with a California businessman and others to obtain several valuable trade secrets from DuPont.
Chinese Rip-off Artists
Separately, a former engineer for Motorola Inc. was found guilty of stealing trade secrets from the company but cleared of economic espionage for China.
The latest developments in the two cases come as Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit the United States next week on a range of economic, trade, regional and global issues.
Xi, considered China's president-in-waiting, will meet President Barack Obama at the White House next Tuesday. The U.S. visit will be a major step in signaling Xi's readiness to take over as China's next top leader and run Beijing's complex and sometimes vexed relationship with Washington.
The United States has identified industrial spying as a significant and growing threat to the nation's prosperity. In a government report released last November, authorities cited China as "the world's most active and persistent perpetrators of economic espionage."
California businessman Walter Liew has already been in custody for several months on witness tampering charges related to the DuPont allegations. Liew and his wife, Christina, also face charges of conspiracy to commit economic espionage and other counts in the latest indictment.
The Pangang Group, named in the DuPont case, is based in Panzhihua city in the far south of China's Sichuan province and is western China's largest steelmaker. It was formally known as Panzhihua Iron and Steel (Group) Co Ltd.
Liew, a U.S. citizen, allegedly paid former DuPont engineers for assistance in designing chloride-route titanium dioxide, also known as TiO2.
Theft takes place at many stages. From the local 7-11 to international espionage, theft around the globe seems to be getting worse all the time. I would like to think a theft class might deter some thieves, but at this level, the only deterrent may be the death penalty.