No Country for Old Spies

Sino-American engineer sentenced to 2 years for spying
By Associated Press 

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Taiwan-born U.S. nuclear engineer who pleaded guilty to helping China build reactors using U.S. technology has been sentenced in Tennessee to two years in prison.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports Chief U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan sentenced 67-year-old Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho on Thursday. 

Varlan said Ho’s case wasn’t as serious as offenses involving weapons of mass destruction described in the law that he pleaded guilty under.
Varlan also ordered a year of supervised release and a fine of $20,000.
Ho’s lawyers have said he wasn’t trying to help China produce nuclear weapons. 

The information he bought for China related to production of nuclear energy.
Prosecutors contend even if Ho wasn’t trying to help China strengthen its military nuclear weapon program, China can’t be trusted to act responsibly.

China's Fifth Column

Sino-American spy Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho pleads guilty to selling nuclear secrets to China

By Ellen Nakashima and Steven Mufson

Chinese spy Szuhsiung “Allen” Ho

A Chinese-born U.S. nuclear engineer has pleaded guilty to helping a state-controlled Chinese nuclear energy company build reactors in China using U.S. technology.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday that 66-year-old Szuhsiung "Allen" Ho pleaded guilty to conspiracy to illegally bypass U.S. regulations on production of nuclear materials outside the United States.
Ho had dual citizenship in China, where he was employed with the China General Nuclear Power Company, and the U.S., where he was owner and president of Delaware-based Energy Technology International.
Prosecutors allege he enticed nuclear experts at the Tennessee Valley Authority to pass sensitive information to Beijing by paying them bribes.
Ho faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. 

He will be sentenced May 17 in U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
Court documents say Ho consulted with the Department of Energy and was told his work fell outside the scope of regulation.
Ho was a nuclear engineer, employed as a consultant by CGNPC and was also the owner of ETI. CGNPC specialized in the development and manufacture of nuclear reactors and was controlled by China's State-Owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.
According to documents filed in the case, beginning in 1997 and continuing through April 2016, Ho conspired with others to engage or participate in the development or production of special nuclear material in China, without specific authorization to do so from the U.S. Secretary of Energy, as required by law.
Ho assisted CGNPC in procuring U.S.-based nuclear engineers to assist CGNPC and its subsidiaries with designing and manufacturing certain components for nuclear reactors, including the small modular reactor program.
This case was initially investigated by the FBI, Tennessee Valley Authority-Office of the Inspector General and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations.