Tianjin University in mainland China has denied claims by the United States that three of its staff were involved in economic espionage. The U.S. Justice Department has announced charges against six Chinese individuals, three of them from Tianjin.
Washington considers economic espionage as a top national security concern, according to Reuters. The accusations against the six mark the third time in many years that U.S. authorities have accused China for the offense.
The university, however, denies the charges defiantly. In an article published by the Communist Party-controlled China Youth Daily, the university was quoted to have refuted the charges made by the U.S. Justice Department, stating that the allegations were an attempt by American authorities to politicize a strictly technical dispute, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hao Zhang, a 36-year-old professor from Tianjin University's Precision Instrument Engineering Department, was arrested in Los Angeles on Saturday after arriving on a trip from China. Zhang, along with two other professors, were charged with stealing source code and other proprietary information from chipmakers Avago Technologies Ltd. and Skyworks Solutions Inc., according to Reuters.
The accusations against the Chinese individuals involve stealing trade secrets from Avago and Skyworks, then later developing the technology to benefit ROFS Microsystems, a joint venture that the professors founded with the university.
The indictment further states that film bulk-wave-resonator technology, which is used in wireless devices to filter out unwanted signals, was utilized by ROFS Microsystems to win contracts commercial and military clients, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Tianjin University maintains that the findings of the professors that were utilized by ROFS Microsystems were the results of their own research, and is therefore public. The university also emphasized that the findings of the professors conform to international standards in scientific research and ethical norms.
