House Committee Probing Chinese Tech Theft From Iowa Farmers
Members of the House of Representatives are investigating the theft of important technology from Iowa farmers as part of a growing probe into US research stolen by China.
Members of a special committee of the Chinese Communist Party visited Iowa on Thursday to learn more about China's spying efforts in the agricultural technology sector.
Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin and chairman of the committee said America should make it a priority to protect the technology that lives in Iowa's cornfields, as research labs in Silicon Valley do.
“Right now, the US tech ecosystem is a bucket with huge holes in the bottom, and we invest billions and billions of dollars in research and development every year,” said Herr Gallagher.
“We need to close these loopholes. We could have done that with export controls, research security, and capital restrictions, but for some reason we decided not to.”
Sir Gallagher said China's theft of research and innovation hurts not so much CEOs and lobbyists, but farmers, military personnel and other Americans in their daily lives.
While Chinese espionage is more commonly associated with military targets or disruptive digital hacks, the theft of the country's intellectual property has also spread to the agricultural sector.
In 2016, Mo Hailong was sentenced to three years in prison for conspiring to steal the trade secrets of American seed companies.
A Chinese businessman was spotted years ago digging up hybrid seeds in an Iowa cornfield and was arrested, while others managed to escape before going to jail.
Speaking from Tama County, where Mr. Mo was found, lawmakers sounded the alarm about China's interest in agricultural technology.
China's seed theft is hurting every farmer in Iowa who pays for agricultural research, buys seeds from the fields, and then harvests to feed and feed Americans, Republican Ashley Henson said.
“This high-tech grain is one of the most closely guarded trade secrets in the industry. The Chinese Communist Party has this right for its own purposes,” Ms. Henson said during a roundtable with Iovans.
Ten years after Iowans saw Chinese businessmen visiting their cornfields, farmers have become more vigilant.
Will Cornelius, vice president of Cornelius Seed, told lawmakers that the seed industry is aware of this, but the general public has yet to see China's interest in American farms.
“I recently learned that one of our colleagues was part of the team that found these people 10 years ago,” Mr. Cornelius said, referring to the Mo case. - Just when you see that something is wrong, you talk and talk.
• This article is based in part on news service reports.
