US arrests Chinese national for suspected violation of ‘anti-submarine’ items export rules

The US Department of Justice has announced the arrest and charging of a Chinese national for allegedly conspiring to export US-origin goods to China for use in anti-submarine warfare.

The District of Massachusetts charged Shuren Qin with one count of visa fraud and one count of conspiring to commit violations of US export regulations. Qin operates several Chinese companies that import US and European goods with applications in underwater or marine technologies into China.

It is alleged that Qin liaised with entities including the Northwestern Polytechnical University (‘NWPU’), a Chinese military research institute listed by the Department of Commerce in 2001, over procuring items used in anti-submarine warfare. According to the Department of Justice, Qin allegedly exported around 78 hydrophones – devices used to detect and monitor sound underwater – from the US to NWPU without the required export licences from the Department of Commerce. Qin did not inform the US supplier of the end-user and ‘caused false information to be filed with the United States government.’

Other equipment allegedly exported included remotely-operated side scan sonar systems, unmanned water and surface vehicles, and robotic boats, which can have military applications.

The sentence for conspiring to violate US export laws is up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $1m.

For further details on this action see:
https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/chinese-national-arrested-conspiring-illegally-export-us-origin-goods-used-anti-submarine