Posted on 07/03/2014 8:47:07 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Three years ago, a security guard working for seed company Pioneer Hi-Bred came across something unusual on a road in Iowa: Just off the pavement, a man was on his knees, digging in a field.
Challenged by the guard, Mo Hailong claimed to be an employee of the University of Iowa who was traveling to a nearby conference. He jumped back in his car and sped away.
U.S. authorities would later accuse Hailong, and five other Chinese nationals, of stealing corn seeds and attempting to smuggle them back to China.
A seventh defendant, Mo Yun, was arrested and charged Wednesday with stealing trade secrets for her husband's seed company -- the Beijing Dabeinong Technology Group Company.
The details of the case, laid out by prosecutors, underscore the difficulty of safeguarding U.S. intellectual property, and the determination of some foreign rivals to acquire technology by illicit means.
For six years, the Chinese nationals hopscotched across rural Iowa and Illinois, stealing valuable inbred corn seed from Pioneer, Monsanto (MON) and LG Seeds, prosecutors said in an updated indictment. The group rented storage facilities, bought their own testing field and concocted elaborate cover stories.
"These are actually very serious offenses," one of the accused said during a recorded conversation reproduced in the indictment. "They could treat us as spies," his colleague replied.
Three members of the group tried to smuggle the stolen goods out of the U.S. in 2012, concealing hundreds of seeds in Orville Redenbacher popcorn boxes and Subway napkins. One tried to reach Canada; the others boarded aircraft bound for Beijing.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Stupid.
Set up an actual farm and order the seeds.
Idiots.
Of course, then the Dems would all go “Woo Hoo!! $2 Trillion more to spend!!”
Better be nice to the chicoms, if they cut off all of those container ships headed to our shores, most of the industry and sales in the US will grind to a halt. That’s what happens when you give all of your manufacturing, technology, and money to a communist nation.
One day, the world loves our Treasuries and everything is fine, and we’re rich.
The next day, the world won’t buy another Treasury, everything goes to heck in 24 hours, and we’re poor.
We don’t have to default. All we have to do is lose trust. And that will happen all around the world simultaneously at the speed electrons can fly.
[ Seeing how I don’t believe in Patented seeds and have a particular animosity towards Monsanto I can loudly proclaim that I don’t care. The more food for the world the merrier. ]
Agree to some points there, now if Monsanto had to play by the rules all their mid sized competition had to then I would say you were wrong.
That being said I don’t understand why they didn’t just wait for a rainy day during planting seasonand just raid the seed box of a parked planter instead of digging inthe dirt for seeds...
But then again I grew up on a farm...
It's not all about GMO. These corn seed companies sell a lot of non-GMO hybrids that have special seed traits such as resistance to certain pesticides and weed killers.
These seed traits are not the product of GMO technology, but of plant breeding.
I know for a fact, for example, the Monsano's Dekalb corn seeds (which are not GMO) are major sellers, if not market leaders, in certain regions because they increase yield by 20-30 bushels per acre over other brands.
Farmers pay some 10% more per bag of Dekalb than for the competing seeds because of its productivity.
[ That’s called a Default ... and it’s coming.
No, with China it would be called a valuation of stolen property applied against our outstanding debt. ]
Value each seed at 1 million dollars and somehow have a few hundred bags fall into their hands....
If they want it so bad they can “pay” for it...
He should have stopped at the local co-op like the farmers do and bought some......
Could not have said it better.
The Chinese have been doing this for years. Their diplomatic staff successfully smuggled out branch cuttings from Pacific Rose apples, a successful apple developed in New Zealand. See:
http://adamapples.blogspot.com/2010/05/new-zealand-apple-budwood-theft.html
Pacific Rose was the one involved in the ‘underpants’ saga. A visiting Chinese delegation were stopped at by customs as the airport as they left NZ. The ones without diplomatic protection were searched and quite literally had their undergarments stuffed with Pacific Rose budwood. Unfortunately the ones with diplomatic protection had equally bulging pants.
The theft apparently took place in the spring of 1997, a date that is a few years too early for the online archive of the New Zealand Herald. The only reference I could find to this incident online is from this report from a New Zealand - based trade-watchdog group:
In April, Opposition MPs and pip-fruit industry representatives lambasted the Government over its decision not to prosecute a visiting Chinese horticultural delegation after a foiled attempt to steal 15 apple budwood cuttings. Was this “theft” a genuine mistake, some asked - or a case of industrial espionage which could have seriously threatened New Zealand’s $1.6 billion horticulture export industry?
I doubt it. The vast majority of the American people are sheep. They do not even know what day it is. As long as they can continue to stuff their faces and screw their pig they are happy.
China will steal anything of value it can get its hands on, especially if its related to agriculture, technology or energy.
The corn is all three.
Why wouldn’t they steel form anyone. They are godless Communists!
Why don’t the chinese have some recent legal chinese immigrants start a farm in iowa, then after farming for a few year order a bit more seed corn than they need and then leave out a few bags for their agents to pick up, that way they can crontrol WHAT seeds they are stealing and they can do it under the radar...
Maybe I should start a consultancy firm for espionage, becasue they seem to be doing it wrong....
The reason is the same in both cases: it is superior to the product they produce.
As a mussie I take offence to the things you say. We like young boys and goats the best and as we cannot find the step ladder camels are out.
They are getting worse with each passing month.
Because it’s cheaper to steal than to do the research for yourself.
The downside to stealing technology is that you really don’t have an idea at at the basic level of what the item you have stolen does or the negatives to the technology is.
Such as: Hey I have stolen this neat super conducting Battery! Let’s back engineer it and then make more of them to sell cheaply! Negative impact is the production process will render the workers sterile as well as several thousand hectares of formerly productive land. (Hypothetical case)
As a Muslim, I thought you couldn’t eat pig. What are they supposed to do with all those swine?
ping
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