More smoke, fewer mirrors
Reader comment on: In Spy Case, Jury Is Schooled in Chinese Grammar

Submitted by Michael Deal, May 2, 2007 11:13

This case is a perfect example of the double standard under which the Bush Administration has operated the whole system of export controls: Large companies are permitted to build huge new R and D centers in Communist China, with or without licenses, and transfer incredible amounts of technology to Communist China; but then the Bush Administration tries to act as though its actually trying to do something by singling out for token prosecution a few foreign-born individuals who don't have the money for armies of lawyers with expertise in export controls to fight these bogus charges. At least two of the documents were publicly available over the internet and therefore not subject to controls under the explicit terms of the regulations themselves. This case should have never been brought as a criminal case: At most, it should have been settled like the Hughes and Loral case with civil penalties and debarment.

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