Chi Mak

Chi Mak (; 28 September 1940 – 31 October 2022) was a Chinese-born American citizen who worked as an engineer for California-based defense contractor Power Paragon, a part of L-3 Communications. He was convicted on espionage for China.

Biography

Early life Mak lived in Hong Kong before, in the late 1970s, moving to the U.S. as an immigrant.

Espionage case In 2007, Mak was found guilty of conspiring to export sensitive defense technology to China. He was not formally charged with espionage as the information was not officially classified.

Mak's legal defense was that he thought there was nothing improper about leaving the U.S. with a CD carrying his own published work on U.S. defense technology, and items restricted by export controls. His defense argued that making the data accessible to scrutiny by the general public negated its military value and made it acceptable to transport outside the United States, despite the fact that Chi Mak was the one who released the information, without authorization. The defense also argued that the data was in the public domain. The information Mak passed on allegedly helped China build its own version of Aegis, an American radar system built to protect military ships.

The prosecution indicated that the data was nevertheless export-controlled and that it should not have been shared with foreign nationals without authorization. are currently available on a worldwide basis, due to Chi Mak's unauthorized releases.

Mak's brother and sister-in-law were apprehended by the FBI after boarding a flight to Hong Kong carrying one encrypted CD which contained defense-related documents.