What their headline said: (click image to read their article)

What their article mentioned:

New York resident Xiaoqing Zheng, while working for General Electric (GE) from 2008 to 2018, stole GE’s proprietary gas and steam turbine technology and secretly sent the information to two turbine engine companies in China. One of the Chinese companies, Liaoning Tianyi Aviation Technology (LTAL), is owned by his nephew Zhaoxi Zhang; the other firm is the Nanjing Tianyi Avi Tech Co., Ltd. (“NTAT”).

What their article didn’t mention:

“According to the Indictment, LTAT and NTAT are owned, controlled, sponsored, commanded, managed, and dominated by the Chinese government. See id. The Indictment further alleges that Defendant and Zhang conspired to commit economic espionage, as the thefts of GE’s trade secrets were carried out knowing and intending that the thefts would benefit China and one or more of its foreign instrumentalities (including LTAT and NTAT).”
Source: “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. XIAOQUING ZHENG and ZHAOXI ZHANG, Defendants.” 1:19-CR-156 1:20-MC-57 (MAD), 10-27-2020

“…the thefts of GE’s trade secrets surrounding various turbine technologies were done knowing and intending that the thefts would benefit the People’s Republic of China and one or more foreign instrumentalities, including LTAT, NTAT, Shenyang Aerospace University, Shenyang Aeroengine Research Institute, and Huaihai Institute of Technology. The defendants, through LTAT and NTAT, received financial and other support from the Chinese government and coordinated with Chinese government officials to enter into research agreements with Chinese state-owned institutions to develop turbine technologies..”
Source: Press Release, “Former GE Engineer and Chinese Businessman Charged with Economic Espionage and Theft of GE’s Trade Secrets”, United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, April 23, 2019

Let’s see if we can connect the dots:

Chinese Government (in Beijing)
→ Chinese State-owned institutions (three technology schools)
→ Two Chinese Aerospace companies (LTAT & NTAT)
→ One Chinese National (Zhaoxi Zhang)
→ His US Relative (Xiaoqing Zheng, citizenship unknown)
→ GE’s proprietary turbine technology
→ Theft of GE’s intellectual property.
→ (perform the steps in reverse)

Or, simply stated: Beijing → GE Computers → Beijing

So, might the article’s sub-headline be more accurate if it pointed out who’s ultimately responsible?

“Beijing is the only one spying on work computers”

Even I could connect the dots in less time than it took to write this posting…and I’m not a Computer Programmer or IT Specialist, I’m just a former Gas Turbine Engineer.

Beijing’s relentless use of people to get what they want is kind of like US Government agencies (such as, for example, the FBI, CIA, DHS, Congress, or the White House) infiltrating and pressuring employees of social media companies (for example, Twitter) to monitor a user’s comments (their “Intellectual Property”, as it were) and then censor, suspend, shadow ban, or completely ban the user at the request of the government.

Of course, something like that would never happen in the USA, as it’s probably unconstitutional. (How’s that for snark, Mr. Vulture? )

Thanks for Reading!