Chinese National Sentenced to Prison for Attempting to Illegally Export to China

A Chinese national was sentenced to 40 months in prison after trying to export military and space-related technology to China without proper licenses, violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 18 press release.

Between 2016 and 2018, Tao Li worked with others in China to try to illegally export from the U.S. “radiation-hardened power amplifiers and supervisory circuits,” components used “primarily for military and space applications,” the press release said. The items required Bureau of Industry and Security export licenses due to the “significant contribution that the components could make to a foreign country’s military and space programs,” the Justice Department said. To avoid the license requirements, Li used aliases to contact U.S. people and companies to try to buy the components, saying he was willing to pay a “risk fee.” Li was arrested while planning to meet with an undercover agent in Arizona, the Justice Department said.

Li’s arrest is one of “many” cases of illegal attempts to export U.S. military technology to China, Assistant Attorney General John Demers said in a statement. “Such laws are in place to protect our national security, and the Department of Justice will continue to vigorously enforce them.”