A man accused of stealing missile-tracking secrets had applied to 'talent programs' run by the Chinese government, DOJ says

• A man in California was charged with stealing trade secrets from a defense contractor.
• The Justice Department said the secrets involved information on missile-tracking technology.

A 57-year-old man who had ties to the Chinese government was arrested in California and charged with stealing trade secrets from a defense contractor, including blueprints for technologies developed to detect nuclear missile launches and track ballistic and hypersonic missiles, the Justice Department said in a press release Wednesday.

Chenguang Gong, who was arrested Tuesday, transferred over 3,600 files from the company, which is not identified, to a personal storage device while employed there for less than a month in March and April of last year, prosecutors said. Gong, a native of China, is a resident of San Jose and has been a US citizen since 2011, the DOJ said.

The company's research and development center was based in Malibu, California, and has contracts with the US Department of Defense.

The affidavit said the technology would be "dangerous to US national security if obtained by international actors."

US Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California said Gong had previously sought to provide China with information that would help its military, according to the DOJ release.

During the investigation, the FBI said it discovered Gong had "submitted numerous applications to 'Talent Programs' administered by the People's Republic of China government" between 2014 and 2022 while also employed at major technology companies in the US and defense contractors, the release said.

The affidavit said China "has established talent programs through which it identifies individuals located outside the PRC who have expert skills, abilities, and knowledge that would aid in transforming the PRC's economy, including its military capabilities."

In the same press release, the DOJ also said it had arrested two Iranian men charged with trying to illegally procure goods and technology to be exported and used by the government in Iran.

"The defendants allegedly attempted to obtain commercial and military aircraft items from multiple US companies that supply the military, aerospace, and firefighting industries," US Attorney Breon Peace for the Eastern District of New York said. "These charges demonstrate the resolve of this office and the Department of Justice to prosecute those who seek to aid the Government of Iran, in violation of US sanctions."