| abstract | - The People's Republic of China (PRC) is alleged to undertake a widespread effort to acquire U.S. military technology and classified information[citation needed]. To fulfill its long-term military development goals, the PRC uses a variety of methods to obtain U.S. technology—including espionage, the exploitation of commercial entities, and a network of scientific, academic, and business contacts. The Chinese operate in ways that take advantage of U.S. laws to avoid prosecution. The PRC uses a vast network of agents and contacts to collect pieces of information that are collated and put together in the PRC. Often each individual piece is not enough to warrant any suspicion or prosecution from U.S. government personnel. The aggressiveness of Chinese penetration is well documented in multiple espionage cases including those of Larry Wu-Tai Chin, Katrina Leung, Gwo-Bao Min, Chi Mak, and Peter Lee. In addition to traditional espionage, the PRC uses civilian companies to partner with American businesses in order to acquire advanced technology and economic data. Additionally, the PRC utilizes cyber-espionage to penetrate the computer networks of U.S. businesses and government agencies. This is evidenced by a recent Chinese cyber-attack on Google's computer systems in December 2009. PRC intelligence operations in the United States have become so pervasive that U.S. law enforcement officials have identified China as the most active foreign power involved in illegal acquisition of American technology. High profile Chinese spy cases in US media have raised concerns to civil rights groups about racial profiling Chinese Americans, Asian Americans, or immigrants of Chinese origin for being spies, especially after the high profile "Chinese espionage" case against Wen Ho Lee fallen apart.
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