❓WHAT HAPPENED: A dual national engineer pleaded guilty to stealing military trade secrets from a Southern California defense contractor.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Chenguang Gong, a 59-year-old citizen of China and the United States, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The unauthorized transfers occurred between March 30 and April 26, 2023, at a Southern California defense contractor. Chenguang Gong pleaded guilty to stealing military trade secrets on Monday, July 21, 2025.
💬KEY QUOTE: “These files describe the methods, designs, techniques, processes, specifications, testing, and manufacture of these technologies and would be extremely damaging economically if obtained by the victim company’s competitors, and would be dangerous to U.S. national security if obtained by international actors.” – U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
🎯IMPACT: The theft highlights ongoing concerns about China’s military-civil fusion policy and its implications for U.S. national security.
Chenguang Gong, a dual citizen of the United States and China, pleaded guilty on Monday to stealing over 3,600 files containing military trade secrets from a Southern California defense contractor. These files included blueprints for advanced sensors used to detect and monitor hypersonic, ballistic, and nuclear missiles, as well as sensors designed to warn U.S. warplanes of incoming heat-seeking missiles and jam their infrared tracking systems.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California revealed that Gong was employed as an application-specific integrated circuit design manager at the contractor in January 2023. The unauthorized transfers occurred between March 30 and April 26, 2023, and included files marked “proprietary” and “for official use only.” Gong transferred over 1,800 files after accepting a position with a competitor of the company.
Prosecutors also noted Gong’s previous efforts to apply for Chinese government “Talent Programs,” which aim to recruit overseas scientists and engineers to transfer expertise and technology to China. In one instance, while working for a U.S. technology firm in Dallas in 2015, Gong proposed developing sensors and analog-to-digital converters for a high-tech Chinese organization, emphasizing their military applications. He traveled to China multiple times to secure funding for these projects.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, in its February 2024 complaint, stated: “These files describe the methods, designs, techniques, processes, specifications, testing, and manufacture of these technologies and would be extremely damaging economically if obtained by the victim company’s competitors, and would be dangerous to U.S. national security if obtained by international actors.”
Gong is currently free on a $1.75 million bond and is awaiting sentencing, scheduled for September 29. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Image by Doug Harvey via U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. Fifth Fleet.
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