In September 2011, sheriff's deputies in Iowa encountered three ethnic Chinese men near a field where a farmer was growing corn seed under contract with Monsanto. What began as a simple trespassing inquiry mushroomed into a two-year FBI operation in which investigators bugged the mens' rental cars, used a warrant intended for foreign terrorists and spies, and flew surveillance planes over corn country&mash;all in the name of protecting the trade secrets of Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer. Industrial espionage by Chinese companies is a catalyst for the US' recent trade war with China and one of the top counterintelligence targets of the FBI. Efforts to stem the problem have been largely ineffective.
Mara Hvistendahl spent four years researching this unusually far-reaching investigation. Through previously unreleased FBI files and her reporting from across the United States and China, she describes a history of shoddy counterintelligence on China, much of it tinged with racism, and questions whether criminal prosecutions are the best way to address trade secrets theft and protect innovation in America. Ms. Hvistendahl will discuss science, espionage, and rising tensions in U.S.-China relations.
Admission/Cost: $5-$10
Location
National University
Sanford Center Auditorium
1355 N. Torrey Pines Rd
La Jolla, CA 92037
???
Thursday, March 26 - 6:00 PM
Mara Hvistendahl spent four years researching this unusually far-reaching investigation. Through previously unreleased FBI files and her reporting from across the United States and China, she describes a history of shoddy counterintelligence on China, much of it tinged with racism, and questions whether criminal prosecutions are the best way to address trade secrets theft and protect innovation in America. Ms. Hvistendahl will discuss science, espionage, and rising tensions in U.S.-China relations.
Admission/Cost: $5-$10
Location
National University
Sanford Center Auditorium
1355 N. Torrey Pines Rd
La Jolla, CA 92037
???
Thursday, March 26 - 6:00 PM
