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Adam Minter

China's Spies Elude U.S. Vacuum Cleaner

Industrial espionage is too complex to be captured by a pat metaphor.

The investigation into scientist Wen Ho Lee spun out of control, leading activists to allege he was targeted because of his race. — The investigation into scientist Wen Ho Lee spun out of control, leading activists to allege he was targeted because of his race.
Photographer: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

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May 10, 2018, 2:00 AM UTCCorrectedJune 7, 2018, 1:06 AM UTC

President Donald Trump could never be accused of underestimating the impact of Chinese economic espionage and technology transfer on the United States. “We’re talking about big damages,” he said when discussing retaliation for intellectual property theft in a January interview. “We’re talking about numbers that you haven’t even thought about.”

His tariffs and a recently floated proposal to restrict certain Chinese researchers in the U.S. are calibrated to be equally tough. But will they work?