Posted on 10/18/2007 4:52:33 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A Chinese woman living in Connecticut tried to buy military equipment commonly used to gauge the power of nuclear explosions and export it to her native country, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday.
Qing Li, 39, was arrested at New York's Kennedy Airport on Sunday as she checked in for a China Air flight to Beijing, according to investigators for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A federal judge ordered the woman, who was living in Stamford, Conn., temporarily held in New York pending hearings in San Diego.
Her attorney in New York, Paul Goldberger, did not immediately return a call Thursday.
A co-conspirator based in China has not been charged and is not in custody, according to investigators.
According to court documents, the defendant, who has lived in the U.S. since 1996 and holds a green card, approached undercover agents via e-mail in April to ask about buying sensors, called piezoresistive accelerometers, typically used for measuring nuclear or chemical explosions.
The devices, made by Endevco Corp. of San Juan Capistrano, can also be used for developing missiles or artillery. It is illegal to export the sensors without State Department approval.
``These devices are simply not for export to China or anywhere else without explicit permission from the U.S. government,'' said Julie Myers, Homeland Security assistant secretary, who oversees illegal export investigations as head of ICE.
``Accelerometers are a designated defense article frequently used in missiles, 'smart bombs' and other major weapons systems and in the wrong hands, could prove catastrophic,'' she said.
According to the complaint, the defendant asked for as many as 30 of the $2,500 units to be shipped to mainland China via Hong Kong as ``a favor for a friend in China.'' A co-conspirator allegedly told investigators the sensors were for ``a special agency, a scientific research institute in China.''
Wishful thinking they'll take it seriously.
Good graphic Phil!
I guess I should be more specific. A chicom versus a TROPer
As we focus exclusively on Muslims and Mexicans, there is a large Fifth Column of Chinese agents here working to supplant the U.S. as the world’s superpower. Thanks to the Clintons and the Chamber of Commerce, God knows what has already passed over to them.
Better. Slightly.
Well, you can choose to trust whomever you like. The beauty of a free country.
Yep. The chicoms are more a threat than the muzzies.
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