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The Scientist and the Spy

Page 30

by Mara Hvistendahl


  Grant, Hugh, 85

  Greenpeace, 55

  Green Revolution, 85

  Griess, Jason

  and case theories, 163–64

  and FISA warrant, 206, 207–9

  Mo case role, 205–6

  and Mo indictment, 176

  and Mo pretrial hearing, 220

  and Mo’s defense attorneys, 192

  and Mo sentencing, 226–27, 228, 229–30

  and Mo Yun case dismissal, 214–15

  and Mo Yun pretrial hearing, 213

  and seized seed analysis, 161, 206

  Hartnett, John, 234

  Heartland Co-op, 68

  He Fangxun, 9

  Hi-Bred Corn Company, 46–47

  See also DuPont Pioneer

  Holden flashlight breeding case, 112–13, 232

  Holden Foundation Seeds, 112

  Hoover, J. Edgar, 71, 74, 233

  Houston Chronicle, 242

  Howley, Sean, 108

  “How Red China Spies” (Hoover), 74

  Huang, Kexue, 35

  Huntsman, Jon, Jr., 188

  hybrid corn seed, 46–47

  See also hybrid seed licensing

  hybrid seed licensing

  and DBN Monee, Illinois, farm, 88–89, 90, 93, 135–36, 167–68, 216

  Montgomery’s personal efforts, 90, 217–18

  inbred corn seed

  Chinese government domestic goal, 14–15, 114, 121–22, 163

  China’s need for, 14–15

  growing methods, 3

  Holden flashlight breeding case, 112–13, 232

  and hybrid corn origins, 46

  isozyme electrophoresis test for, 113

  and natural pollination, 46

  and super seeds, 169

  See also DBN reverse engineering plan

  indigenous innovation, 23, 162

  industrial espionage

  alternative solutions, 229

  Chinese campaign, 236

  counterfeiting, 25

  history of, 31–32

  Mo on, 253–54

  and seed industry consolidation, 113

  stolen technology value estimates, 187–89

  technological tools for, 32, 34

  as U.S. national security threat, 32, 78, 94–95

  See also Chinese industrial espionage; FBI industrial espionage focus

  Infinite Self-Storage, 137

  insider threat approach, 80–81, 96, 172

  Institute of Engineering Thermophysics (Chinese Academy of Sciences), 11

  intellectual property protections

  Chinese government attitude toward, 131, 218

  as constraint on innovation, 187

  and flashlight seed breeding, 112–13

  history of, 31

  and Monsanto antitrust suit, 49–50, 114

  and secrecy, 63

  tech agreements, 98, 245

  Intelligence Threat Handbook, 94–95, 106–7

  International Agency for Research on Cancer, 252

  internet, 32

  Iowa State University, 5–6, 39

  isozyme electrophoresis test, 113

  Japanese-American internment, 240–41

  Jen, Chih-Kung, 76

  Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 72

  Jilin Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 58–59

  Jin, Hanjuan, 143

  Jinse Nonghua, 14

  See also Kings Nower

  Justice Department Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, 154

  Karabasevic, Dejan, 108–9

  Kármán, Theodore von, 72

  Kim, Andrew Chongseh, 155

  Kimball, Dan, 73–74

  Kings Nower

  fifteenth anniversary of, 238–39

  founding of, 14

  as large Chinese seed company, 61

  Li Shaoming role in, 15

  marketing materials, 61–62

  and Monee, Illinois, farm, 117–18

  office of, 61

  Stine licensing agreement, 80

  See also Dabeinong; DBN reverse engineering plan; Mo, Robert

  Kluger, Matthew, 248

  knowledge spillover, 187

  Krickbaum, Marc, 213

  Lannate, 47

  Larbalestier, David, 152

  Lee, Wen Ho, 104–6, 108, 154, 156, 186

  Leonard, Robert, 219, 221–23

  Lewis, James A., 34

  Lewis, Meriwether, 96

  Li, Carolyn (Ping Li), 11–12, 13, 172, 175, 191, 227, 256

  Li, Kening, 209

  Lieu, Ted, 150–51

  Lincenberg, Gary, 213

  Lin Yong

  and DBN reverse engineering plan illegality, 130–32, 139, 220

  FBI identification of, 117

  FBI surveillance of, 143–44, 158–59, 176

  inbred corn sample collecting, 128–30, 138, 164, 209–10

  indictment of, 176–77

  Mo’s complaints about, 121

  and Most Wanted list, 235

  and seed shipments, 119

  Li Shaoming

  and Bondurant Monsanto field incident, 5, 7, 17, 130

  border search, 142–44, 146–47

  and domestic inbred seed goal, 121–22

  indictment of, 176–77

  informing on Mo, 144, 146–47

  and Kings Nower fifteenth anniversary, 239

  Kings Nower role of, 15

  and Mo case, 196, 209

  and Montgomery hiring process, 37, 57, 62

  and Mo’s discomfort with DBN reverse engineering plan, 8, 16–17

  Mo’s frustration with, 52

  and Most Wanted list, 235

  Mo Yun case, 199

  and nationalism, 57

  and reverse engineering plan, 15, 16, 57, 129, 131, 139, 169

  and seed transport, 137–41

  Stine headquarters trip, 80

  and Xi Jinping, 175

  and Ye Jian/Lin Yong seed collecting, 129

  Liu, Ling Woo, 70–71

  Liu, Lowen, 106

  Lorenzo, Angel, 115–17

  Los Alamos National Laboratory, 104, 156

  Los Angeles Times, 103

  Lowell, Francis Cabot, 31–32

  Lynch, Loretta, 150, 154, 208

  Madoff, Bernie, 248

  Mao Li (Molly), 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 126

  Mattis, Peter, 107–9, 110

  McCarthyism, 155

  MD Anderson Cancer Center, 203–4, 241, 242, 243–44

  Miller, Stephen, 250

  Mo, Robert (Hailong)

  arrest of, 171–73, 174–75, 178

  author’s prison interview with, 246–49, 253–55

  awareness of FBI surveillance, 138

  and Cheng, 79–80, 86, 121–22, 208, 220

  childhood of, 8–10, 54

  and Chinese agricultural delegation, 84

  DBN hiring, 8, 12–13

  defense attorneys for, 191–92, 208, 219–20

  deportation of, 256

  and detective stories, 10, 54

  detention of, 175–76, 177

  discomfort with DBN reverse engineering plan, 8, 15–17, 53–54

  DuPont Pioneer seed purchase, 97–99

  education of, 10–11, 24, 41–43

  family in China, 190, 192, 193

  FBI identification of, 28–30

  FBI surveillance of, 78–79, 94–99, 115–17, 118–19, 120–22, 176

  guilty plea, 224–25

  health of, 148, 175, 191, 202–4, 219, 228, 248

  house arrest of, 190–91<
br />
  imprisonment of, 247–48

  indictment of, 176–77

  insecurity about illegal work, 86–87

  legal activities for DBN, 8, 192–93

  Li Shaoming informs on, 144, 146–47

  and Monee, Illinois, farm, 88, 89, 117, 118

  move to United States, 11–12

  name change of, 10, 247

  personal life of, 11-12, 57, 78–79, 172, 174–75, 191, 227

  plea deal, 223–25

  and racism and xenophobia, 53

  and Redfield farm, 164

  seed shipments, 51, 119–20

  and seed transport, 138–40

  sentencing of, 226–31

  and Tiananmen Square protests, 11, 254

  vulnerability of, 147–48, 177

  See also Mo case; Mo-Montgomery interactions

  Mo case

  author’s first contact with, 18–20, 26

  author’s investigation of, 66–67, 68, 69–71

  Betten research, 50–51

  Bondurant Monsanto field incident, 1–6, 7, 17, 30, 51, 79, 130, 176, 209–10

  border searches, 142–43, 144–45, 146–47

  China-bound seed package search, 119

  and corporate legal cooperation, 186, 189

  cost of, 120, 206, 235

  DBN offices search, 172

  DuPont Pioneer seed-stealing incident, 7, 28, 30, 34, 45, 50–51, 79

  expert witnesses in, 209, 221–23

  FBI Montgomery interview, 123–27

  FISA warrant, 120–22, 206, 207–9

  Griess role, 205–6

  lack of impact on DBN, 239

  media coverage, 18, 178, 179, 193

  Mo arrest, 172–73, 178

  Mo house arrest, 190–91

  Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer as victims in, 50, 93, 159–60, 189, 210, 224, 227, 228–29

  Monsanto/DuPont Pioneer subpoenas, 209–10

  Montgomery as informant, 127, 133–36, 167, 168, 179, 220

  Montgomery interrogation, 124–27

  Mo pretrial hearings, 219, 221–23

  Mo’s conspiracy theories, 193, 210, 253–54

  Mo’s defense attorneys, 191–92

  Mo sentencing, 226–31

  Mo surveillance, 78–79, 94–99, 115–17, 118–19, 120–22, 176

  Mo Yun arrest, 195–201, 235

  Mo Yun case dismissal, 214–15, 219

  Mo Yun pretrial hearing, 211, 212–14

  Muddy Hooves as Mo’s code name, 78, 95–99

  Operation Purple Maze as code name for, 78

  Pioneer ethnic Chinese breeders, 172

  plea deal, 223–25

  and profiling of ethnic Chinese, 219–20, 232, 245

  and proof of intent, 210

  risks for FBI of, 35

  seized seed analysis, 144, 158–59, 160–61, 206

  Stine investigation, 81–82, 122

  story of, 23–24

  theories of, 163–64

  and U.S.-Chinese economic relations, 178, 179, 251

  Yao mortgage brokerage search, 172

  Ye Jian/Lin Yong surveillance, 143–44, 158, 176

  Mo-Montgomery interactions

  and hybrid seed licensing, 135–36, 167–68, 216

  Monee, Illinois, farm purchase, 88, 89

  and Monee farmhouse remodeling and break-in, 134–35

  and Montgomery as FBI informant, 134, 135, 167

  Montgomery’s Beijing DBN headquarters trip, 59, 61–64, 127

  and Montgomery’s suspicions, 111, 180

  tensions, 92–93, 167–68

  Texas Roadhouse interview, 36–37, 38–39, 41–43, 57

  Monee, Illinois, farm. See DBN Monee, Illinois, farm

  Monsanto

  antitrust suit against, 49–50, 92, 114, 159–60, 189

  Bayer purchase of, 217, 252

  Bondurant seed-stealing incident, 1–6, 7, 17, 30, 51, 79, 130, 176, 209–10

  “check hybrids” from, 90

  Chinese reactions to, 54–55

  consolidation of, 47–48

  and developing-world markets, 92

  DuPont Pioneer competition, 159, 160–61

  genetically modified corn, 2–3, 47–49, 54–55, 56

  international reach of, 14

  and Iowa State University, 5–6

  litigious nature of, 3, 114

  Mo case subpoena, 209–10

  name change of, 252

  and pesticide-resistant weeds, 91–92

  Roundup Ready seed, 91–92, 114, 160, 161

  and seized seed analysis, 159, 160

  and Stine firm, 29

  tech agreements, 98

  as victim in Mo case, 50, 93, 159–60, 189, 210, 224, 227, 228–29

  and World Food Prize Foundation, 85

  See also DBN reverse engineering plan

  Montgomery, Bill, 60

  Montgomery, Kevin

  author’s interview with, 166n

  background of, 39

  Beijing DBN headquarters trip, 58–65, 114, 125–27

  character of, 37–38, 39–40

  critique of DBN reverse engineering plan, 165–67, 169–70

  and DBN Monee, Illinois, farm, 88–91, 93, 111–12

  Facebook post by, 179–80

  as FBI informant, 127, 133–36, 167, 168, 179, 220

  FBI interview, 123–27

  and Holden flashlight breeding case, 112, 232

  and hybrid seed licensing project, 88–89, 90, 93, 135–36, 167–68, 218

  and Mo sentencing, 232

  and profiling of ethnic Chinese, 232

  reactions of, 216–17

  as seed breeder, 39–41, 43, 63, 90, 126, 217–18

  suspicions of, 89, 111–12, 113, 114, 180

  Texas Roadhouse interview, 36–37, 38–39, 41–43, 57

  See also Mo-Montgomery interactions

  Moore, Paul, 101, 102–4, 107

  Mo Shifang, 8–10

  Moss, Diana, 41

  Mo Yun

  arrest of, 195–201, 212–14, 235

  case dismissal, 214–15, 219

  childhood of, 9

  DBN reverse engineering plan, 15

  DBN role, 12, 13, 15, 41, 195, 198, 201

  pretrial hearing, 211, 212–15

  pretrial release of, 202

  U.S. trip, 194

  MSS (Chinese Ministry of State Security), 106, 107, 108, 110, 236

  Mueller, Robert, 183

  multilayered theory of espionage, 109

  National Institutes of Health (NIH), 241–44

  National Security Agency (NSA), 131, 207

  Navarro, Peter, 250

  New Republic, The, 33

  Niebur, William, 218

  9/11, 33–34, 69, 142, 183

  Nixon, Richard, 70, 86

  North Atlantic Treaty Organization, 105

  North by Northwest (Hitchcock), 249

  NSA (National Security Agency), 131, 207

  Obama, Barack, 67, 85, 212

  Occupy Wall Street movement, 41, 91

  Office of Personnel Management data breach, 110

  Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive, 78, 188

  Ong, Aryani, 154

  Operation Purple Maze, 78

  See also Mo case

  Origin Agritech, 218

  Pan, Yuling, 222

  Parker, James A., 106

  Pei, Steven, 244

  People, 106–7

  People’s Liberation Army, 107

  People’s Republic of China. See Chinese government

  pesticides, 3,
47, 48, 64, 91–92

  Phillips, Randal, 24–25

  Pioneer. See DuPont Pioneer

  Pioneer 335 seed line, 25, 26, 55

  Pompeo, Mike, 255–56

  profiling of ethnic Chinese. See ethnic Chinese, profiling of

  Prairie Farmer, 39

  prejudice against ethnic Chinese, 53, 68–69, 224

  See also ethnic Chinese, profiling of

  Purple Maze Operation, 78

  See also Mo case

  Qian Yonggang, 73

  Rab, Bill and Ann, 117–18

  racial profiling. See ethnic Chinese, profiling of

  Reina, Alex, 115–17

  Republican National Convention, 182

  reverse engineering. See DBN reverse engineering plan

  Roberts, Clark, 108

  Rodriguez, Valentin, 175

  Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 47

  Rose, Stephanie

  judicial career of, 211–12

  and Mo pretrial hearing, 220, 222, 223

  and Mo sentencing, 227–28, 231

  and Mo Yun pretrial hearing, 211, 212, 214

  and plea deal, 224–25

  and profiling of ethnic Chinese, 245

  Roth, John Reece, 108

  Roundup (glyphosate), 3, 47, 252

  See also Roundup Ready seed

  Roundup Ready seed, 48–49, 91–92, 114, 160, 161

  Russell, Bertrand, 39–40

  Schubbe, Brian, 89–90

  Science, 19, 22

  Senate Intelligence Committee, 239

  September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, 33–34, 69, 142, 183

  Shao Genhuo

  background of, 14

  and Kings Nower fifteenth anniversary, 239

  and Mo hiring, 12

  and Montgomery’s Beijing DBN headquarters trip, 62

  Mo’s report on border searches, 147

  and Mo Yun, 194

  and Xi Jinping, 162, 163, 175

  Sheng, Harry, 70–71, 75

  Sherlock Holmes (Doyle), 54

  Shue, Haipei, 150

  Simone, Joe, 26

  Sinovel, 109

  Skinner, Kiron, 254

  Snowden, Edward, 207

  “Snow” (Mo), 255

  Stahl, Lesley, 186

  Stein, Jeff, 100–101, 107, 219–20

  Stine, Harry, 29, 30

  Stine (breeding firm), 29, 30, 79, 80–82, 122

  See also Cheng, Lily

  Stratfor, 107

  Successful Farming, 39

  super seeds, 169

  superweeds, 92

  Syngenta, 68, 238

  Taylor, C. Robert, 41

  tech agreements, 98, 245

  Theil, Alex, 25

  Thomas, Joel, 97, 98, 163, 220, 244–45

  thousand grains of sand theory, 101–4, 110, 122, 234

  Thousand Talents program, 241–44

  Tiananmen Square protests (1989), 11, 254

  Tien, Chang-Lin Tien, 76, 77

 

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