Physicist guilty of exporting U.S. secrets

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- A physicist in Newport News, Va., pleaded guilty Monday to charges he exported space launch technical data and defense services to China, officials said.

Shu Quan-Sheng, 68, a naturalized U.S. citizen, also offered bribes to government officials in his native China, a Justice Department statement said.

Shu is president, secretary and treasurer of AMAC International Inc., a high-tech company based in Virginia that has offices in Beijing. He pleaded guilty to charges that from January 2003 through October 2007 he violated the Arms Export Control Act by willfully exporting a defense service from the United States to China without an export license or government approval.

Shu specifically provided China with assistance in the design and development of a cryogenic fueling system for space launch vehicles to be used at the heavy payload launch facility in the southern island province of Hainan.