Chinese national charged with stealing trade secrets in United States, justice department says
- Former Monsanto employee Haitao Xiang was stopped at a US airport before he could board a flight to China carrying proprietary farming software
- Xiang’s lawyer says his client will plead not guilty
A Chinese national who worked for agricultural biotechnology firm Monsanto before it was bought by Bayer was charged in St Louis, Missouri, on Thursday with stealing trade secrets for China, the US Justice Department said.
Haitao Xiang, 42, an employee of Monsanto and its Climate Corp subsidiary from 2008 to 2017, was stopped by federal officials at a US airport before he could board a flight to China carrying proprietary farming software, the department said in a statement.
“The indictment alleges another example of the Chinese government using Talent Plans to encourage employees to steal intellectual property from their US employers,” assistant attorney general John Demers said.
Xiang’s lawyer, Eric Selig, said his client would plead not guilty at his arraignment, which has not been scheduled.
China announced its “Thousand Talents Plan” in 2008 to recruit scientific researchers, which authorities in Washington have called a threat to US national security.
“Xiang promoted himself to the Chinese government based on his experience at Monsanto,” Demers said. “Within a year of being selected as a Talent Plan recruit, he quit his job, bought a one-way ticket to China, and was caught at the airport with a copy of the company’s proprietary algorithm before he could spirit it away,” he said.
Xiang was being held in Randolph county jail in Illinois as he awaited a judge’s decision on bail, Selig said.
The suspect, who has lived in the United States for 17 years and has a wife and daughter living in the country, was not a flight risk, he said.
