The Scientist and the Spy
A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage
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The Scientist and the Spy
Narrated by:
James Lurie, Mara Hvistendahl
Buy Now for $22.99
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Narrated by:
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James Lurie
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Mara Hvistendahl
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By:
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Mara Hvistendahl
About this listen
In September 2011, sheriff’s deputies in Iowa encountered three ethnic Chinese men near a field where a farmer was growing corn seed under contract with Monsanto. What began as a simple trespassing inquiry mushroomed into a two-year FBI operation in which investigators bugged the men’s rental cars, used a warrant intended for foreign terrorists and spies, and flew surveillance planes over corn country—all in the name of protecting trade secrets of corporate giants Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer. In The Scientist and the Spy, Hvistendahl gives a gripping account of this unusually far-reaching investigation, which pitted a veteran FBI special agent against Florida resident Robert Mo, who after his academic career foundered took a questionable job with the Chinese agricultural company DBN—and became a pawn in a global rivalry.
Industrial espionage by Chinese companies lies beneath the United States’ recent trade war with China, and it is one of the top counterintelligence targets of the FBI. But a decade of efforts to stem the problem have been largely ineffective. Through previously unreleased FBI files and her reporting from across the United States and China, Hvistendahl describes a long history of shoddy counterintelligence on China, much of it tinged with racism, and questions the role that corporate influence plays in trade secrets theft cases brought by the U.S. government. The Scientist and the Spy is both an important exploration of the issues at stake and a compelling, involving read.
As to content, the book starts strongly on the topic of industrial espionage and was quite to my liking. But after some time, the subject strays to prosecutorial over reach of the FBI and the US Federal Government. The book becomes somewhat dull at this point and frankly, laborious. As the book progresses, an anti-USA sentiment rears its head and there is even a bit of Trump bashing in there which really diminishes the book.
Invariably, the author almost takes the side of the primary offender and sympathises with him. At the end of the day, he committed a crime and was convicted. The author cannot help but import systemic racism as a topic.
The book touches upon some interesting topics such as the ethical dilemma created by the FBI prosecuting intellectual property theft crimes on behalf of Monsanto and Pioneer given that much is made of Chinese government support for Chinese companies. This is a really interesting theme that goes unexplored.
Ultimately the book fails to thoroughly cover industrial espionage. It is at times poorly narrated and is a missed opportunity on the part of the writer.
Quite disappointing. Anti USA sentiments
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