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Defense Official Is Charged in Chinese Espionage Case
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"But I, I, if it ever fell into the wrong hands, and I know it's not going to, but if it ever . . . then I would be fired for sure. I'd go to jail . . . because I violated all the rules."
What Bergersen then let Kuo copy, federal officials said, was a classified list of projected U.S. military sales to Taiwan for the next five years. Kuo then discussed the list in an e-mail to his contact in Beijing, identified in documents as "People's Republic of China Official A," and he later took the list to Beijing.
The information would be of great interest to the Chinese government, according to federal officials and experts on China, because China and Taiwan are adversaries, with China insisting that Taiwan reunite with the mainland. The United States has a long-standing "one China" policy, under which it maintains diplomatic relations only with China.
Taken together, the cases show that China, with its growing military might, is becoming increasingly aggressive in trying to steal U.S. secrets, Justice officials said. Wainstein, assistant attorney general for Justice's national security division, said the overall frequency of espionage, primarily from China and Russia, is approaching the level of activity seen during the Cold War era. The Chinese activity has triggered a major crackdown by Justice.
Neighbors of Bergersen's said the agents, toting automatic weapons, arrived about 5:30 a.m. yesterday and spent about five hours hauling computers and other equipment from the house. They approached Bergersen as he was leaving the house to go exercise, his wife said.
Marcia Shell, a neighbor who witnessed the raid, said, "It was like watching '24' live."
Staff reporters Dan Eggen and Mark Berman in Washington and Edward Cody in Changzhi contributed to this report.