Chinese engineer denied bail in US
- Source: Global Times
- [08:23 October 22 2009]
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By Zuo Xuan
The Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) has stopped research and development on two of its cars since an engineer was arrested and charged in the US, the China-based Economic Observer newspaper reported Wednesday.
Citing an unnamed source familiar with BAIC, the newspaper said Yu Xiangdong, the former Ford engineer accused of stealing trade secrets, was in charge of the internal decoration design of the two cars. However, there was no immediate confirmation of the news from BAIC.
At Yu's preliminary hearing Wednesday, the judge decided to keep him behind bars, pending his transfer to Detroit, where a district court raised the indictment.
Yu had sought his release on bond, with his lawyer offering the court a list of contributors willing to put up $50,000 for bond and a Detroit pastor who would house Yu in an apartment while he awaits trial.
He complained through his lawyer that he was unable to access his assets in China while in jail.
Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan in Chicago said she would request that his transfer be expedited to face a grand jury indictment, but it could take a week or longer.
Gina Balaya, a spokeswoman for the US Attorney's Office in Detroit, said Wednesday that Yu will have the right to raise the issue of bond there and will be formally arraigned on the indictment, according to the Detroit Free Press newspaper.
Jia Xinguang, a senior auto-industrial analyst, told China National Radio Wednesday that it is unfavorable for Yu to be tried in Detroit, the so-called automobile capital of the world, where locals have a deep affection for cars..
"Separation from his assets and resources in China also disabled Yu from taking any initiative," Jia said.
While some analysts are concerned with the outcome of the trial, more of them hope that the individual case, regardless of the outcome, won't undermine the overseas acquisition of Chinese carmakers.
Zhong Shi, another industrial analyst, said it is not necessarily a bad thing for the car industry if Yu is punished.
"It will enhance the awareness of intellectual property laws among Chinese carmakers," he told sina.com, a major Chinese news portal.
Citing the case of Wenho Lee, the 60-year-old Taiwan-born Chinese scientist who was indicted in 1999 for stealing military secrets without any evidence and later released, an online user nicknamed Lei Shi called the indictment a strategy of "killing the chicken to frighten the monkey" on the website of the Wall Street Journal.
The strategy has been used to "target particular groups of people like Chinese … because Chinese are just a bunch of hard working people in the frontier and easy to muzzle from speaking out," the online user wrote after a related report.
Agencies contributed to this story
