Military of China, force comment.
Military of China, force comment.

Western spy eye on Chinese geographical data. Jiong Qiu/graphics

“International Herald Tribune,” freelance writer from Beijing R & D Xue Khao Lak, was born in Xi’an, China, U.S. citizenship in 1998, received Ph.D. in Geology, University of Chicago, specializes in high-pressure rocks of the Dabie Mountains in northern China structure, and arrested the former IHS Energy, the United States in Northeast Asia area manager.

due to theft and sale of Chinese state secrets, July 5, the Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court verdict against him, sentenced to 8 years. According to reports, Xue collected owned China National Petroleum Corporation a number of fields of information and documents, as well as a more than 30,000 wells, including the geographical coordinates and reserves information database, and then to $ 220,000 sold to an American consulting firm .

The case alarmed the U.S. government level.

7 6, the U.S. State Department asked China to immediately release and return Xue. The same day, Chinese Foreign Ministry responded that the defendant’s legal rights are fully guaranteed, China’s judicial sovereignty can not be outside interference.

why seemingly ordinary cases together will lead to Sino-US diplomatic dispute? The key point of the problem is related to geographic data stolen Xue of China’s national economic security and military security. The growing evidence also shows that some of China’s geographic data has long been a coveted goal of the Western spy.

well wartime missile attack targets

U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman has personally visited Xue, and sit about 40 minutes of the trial. According to the Spanish “El Pais” that was handed down along with three Chinese.

to the Western media and some politicians argued that the case involves only “can be obtained from commercial sources of oil industry data,” and accused China of abusing the law. U.S. Embassy, ??said Washington suffered for Xue verdict was “shocking” and called for “humanitarian release” Xue.

well everywhere in many parts of China, Xue Feng why the behavior is punishable by heavy penalties it? The military experts explained to the newspaper, in fact, well data, such as pressure, production, composition, depth, and so a state secret, and a very detailed security classification division.

This is not to state secrets, stall, but “live and learn a lesson,” the results. Rio Tinto after the occurrence of some seemingly ordinary people began to realize the economic impact on national security information is actually huge. China’s massive oil leak of information, will enable China’s foreign projects in the oil industry, oil import and export, procurement of equipment and other negotiations, was more easily analyze the actual mining capacity, cargo volume and price fluctuations of supply and demand space, so that the Chinese side in the disadvantage. This is a great dependence on oil imports in China, amounted to a manipulation strategy for lifeline.

addition to the case involving the economic security, in fact, the geographic information can also be used in a lot of the military. Military experts say that if more than 30,000 oil wells in the coordinates of the information is entered in wartime enemy missiles and smart bombs, combat data link, then the wells were accurately hit the possibility of war greatly increased.

national armed forces of the importance of geographic information has long been recognized. Such as World War II, the Japanese all-out war, the Japanese aerial reconnaissance to be satisfied with rough data, China has sent more than a thousand people to the field of illegal surveying and mapping. The system of geographic intelligence gathering activities have been effective, when the war began, the map of China held by the Japanese army itself was even greater than China but also much more accurate maps.

and if before the war started in Afghanistan, U.S. Army Materiel Command also used to get local geographic data, invested $ 1 billion to build a realistic virtual battlefield in Afghanistan, from desert to jungle to simulate the crowded streets and a variety of terrain.

United States and Japan join forces to gather intelligence Geography of China

military experts pointed out that modern warfare, combat forces of the geographic information have become increasingly demanding, although now States with large satellites, aerial reconnaissance capability, but because of high-altitude reconnaissance and precision is limited, the Earth’s surface curvature, atmospheric refraction as a result of image distortion and other reasons, to send all staff on-site investigation and validation is still essential than intelligence-gathering means.

2006 年 12 22, United States and Japan signed a “cooperation geospatial intelligence official documents.” This document provides the mutual countries in the world at their disposal detailed geographic data, including terrain, route, the latest measurement data, and place names, routes, geomagnetic, the depth of the East China Sea and other fields. In the United States and Japan released a message to claim that this cooperation is for North Korea, but in fact this cooperation does not restrict the scope of surveillance and exchange of information objects. Geographical information from China is clearly in the US-Japan joint collection and sharing of the list.

in the US-Japan cooperation for the contact and the gestation period, the Japanese in China’s illegal to collect geographic information spate of cases. September 23, 2005, the Japanese Institute of Land Information Technology Dalin trip, and his student Jun Xiao East carry two high-precision GPS receiver, set up by local residents of the home as a fixed station GPS receiver, a car for mobile stand the way a lot of data collection, unauthorized collection of Hotan Airport Hotan to important local water conservancy facilities, the geographic coordinates of the data highway.

Previously, Xinjiang PLA garrison troops on patrol discovered the Japanese tourists in the military restricted area near the survey phenomenon. Zhujiang Li Qiang unit staff in the “International Herald Tribune” interview, who recalls that patrols the edge of the area routinely check a sport utility vehicle and found that Japanese tourists used car is extremely detailed maps, several maps in China’s civil The restricted area does not exist unknown trail, temporary bridge has clearly marked, and even numbers and the People’s Liberation Army occupied the same map! In the following together with the local security checks, we found the car in notebook computers, photographic equipment in the restricted area of ??a large number of military geographical information.

World War II, Japan has not invaded into Xinjiang and other places, no grasp of Xinjiang detailed geographical information. US-Japan long-term lack of geographical intelligence agencies in northwest China’s first-hand investigation and verification information. In recent years, Western spy to patronize the area from time to time, attempts to fill this information gap.

abroad are strictly “geographical restricted”

“Voice of America” ??and other media, said Xue of China in the case of a fuss, but in fact the U.S. government and private sector protection of important geographic information is also very strict.

Clinton’s eight categories of the United States “must be confidential information” includes a very wide. The “scientific and technical matters related to national security, the U.S. government plans to protect nuclear facilities, and national security vulnerable information infrastructure,” the three are related geographic information.

“9.11″, the U.S. security sector more sensitive to the geographic information. For example, if the Middle East, the Arab people use Google Earth mapping software such as frequent attention to some “sensitive areas” will cause intelligence officers suspect. The U.S. business, important business of their own facilities will employ strict security company to protect, such as nuclear power plants, oil wells, a large number of geographic information, is not “easily can be found on the Internet.” If foreigners handheld photography, surveying equipment to the nearby long-stay, will not be free and unimpeded measurement.

the other hand, the domestic situation, private institutions and some government agencies are not strong sense of confidentiality. Li Qiang, staff memories, when they arrested suspected Japanese tourists, the local authorities to force the results of the investigation, the suspect is through a travel agent for the relevant procedures, travel expenses are not verified in the collection of tourists’ travel to Xinjiang and to find a monuments and sites “rhetoric credibility, not to send translation guide, do not inform the authorities on behalf of the rental vehicle to allow the Japanese military restricted area near the free activities. Li Qiang, staff said that some places in foreign investment, tourism, services, or scientific cooperation activities, the geographic information security awareness still needs to be further strengthened.