【英语中国】华裔地质学家被判刑涉及油井信息外泄

The location of more than 30,000 oil wells is at the heart of a case that ended in the conviction of U.S. geologist Xue Feng on charges of violating China's national security, according the court verdict, which charged damage was done but didn't specify details.

The Beijing Number One Intermediate People's Court on Monday sentenced Mr. Xue to eight years in prison and fined him 200,000 yuan, or about $29,850. The China-born American was found guilty of trafficking in oil-industry information that constituted state secrets, including the well locations and more than a dozen industry studies on geology and water resources.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday told a regularly scheduled news conference that the case is an internal affair that 'brooks no foreign interference.' He rejected Washington's call to immediately release Mr. Xue.

After Monday's verdict was announced in a sentencing hearing attended by U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement it was 'dismayed' at the ruling and called for Mr. Xue's release.

(This story and related background material will be available on The Wall Street Journal Web site, WSJ.com.)

The case is the latest to highlight the risks of information-gathering in China, where the government offers only vague indications of what is off limits, but reserves the right to severely punish violations. The court said Mr. Xue's efforts to procure oil-industry data did harm to China, but offered few insights into the specifics of the data it deemed to be classified information.

Mr. Xue sought oil-industry information for his former employer, now known as IHS Inc., an Englewood, Colo.-based research company that he left shortly before being detained by Chinese agents in late 2007. IHS is perhaps best known for its subsidiary Cambridge Energy Research Associates, founded by analyst Daniel Yergin.

The company, which wasn't charged in the case, said in a statement Tuesday that it follows the laws of countries where it operates, including China where 'we continue to do business' with customers in several cities. IHS said it wouldn't comment on case specifics pending a possible appeal by Mr. Xue.

'We would like to emphasize that we are sad to hear of Xue Feng's sentence,' the statement said.

Along with Mr. Xue, three Chinese nationals were convicted by the court for roles in the case. Li Yongbo was accused of helping Mr. Xue procure for IHS the database of 32,115 oil wells and prospecting sites mostly owned by China's state oil giant, PetroChina Co. He received an identical sentence to that of Mr. Xue,

Two other researchers, Chen Mengjin and Li Dongxiu, also were found guilty and fined 50,000 yuan each, plus sentenced to 2.5 years in prison and three year's probation.

The court heard that the oil-well data were primarily related to PetroChina holdings and were compiled starting in the mid-1990s, but that the research program was suspended before the information was ever used by the company. The data, said in the verdict to have included decades' worth of well locations, reserves and other coordinates, were offered for sale on the Internet in 2003 and later sold to at least one other Chinese oil group, although it is unclear whether PetroChina knew of the sale.

In 2005, in a deal the verdict said was coordinated by Mr. Xue, IHS paid Mr. Li $228,500 through a third party to obtain a copy of the well information, routing the funds through a company called Liuwei Xinfeng Technology Development Co.

The transaction, the court determined, 'caused over 30,000 national secrets to be sent overseas, which created great damage to national security.' Mr. Xue and the others, the court said, 'obviously' knew the information would be sent overseas.

In his defense, Mr. Xue said coordinates of oil wells are widely shared in the global energy industry and 'it is wrong to say they are national secrets.' Mr. Xue also said he didn't know he was dealing in national secrets. The other defendants mounted similar arguments. None of them can be reached for comment.

Joshua Rosenzweig, manager of research and programs for the Dui Hua Foundation, which works on behalf of detainees in China, said China's state-secret rules are vague. 'Was there any way for these defendants to reasonably know the information they were dealing in was a state secret?' he asked.

根据法庭判决书，美籍地质学家薛锋因侵犯中国国家机密而被判刑，此案的核心问题是30,000多个油井的位置。判决书称对国家安全造成了伤害，但未提供明确细节。

周一，北京第一中级人民法院判处薛锋八年徒刑，并处20万人民币（约合29,850美元）罚款。这名在中国出生的美籍华人被认定非法购买包含国家机密的石油行业信息，包括油井位置以及十多份有关地质和水资源的行业研究报告。

周二，中国外交部发言人在例行记者会上说，此案是中国的内政，中国的司法主权不容外来干涉。他驳斥了华盛顿方面提出的立即释放薛锋的要求。

周一宣判时，美国驻华大使洪博培(Jon Huntsman)到庭旁听。此案宣判后，美国驻华使馆在声明中说对判决感到失望，并要求中国释放薛锋。

这起最新案件凸显了在中国收集信息的风险，中国政府对秘密的界定模糊不清，但保留了对侵犯秘密的行为进行严厉处罚的权力。法庭说薛锋获取中国石油行业信息的努力对中国造成了伤害，但未指出具体哪些数据被其视为秘密信息。

薛锋是为他当时的雇主──总部位于科罗拉多州的研究公司IHS Inc.寻找石油行业信息，并于2007年底被中国当局拘留。被拘留之前不久，他刚离开了这家公司。由分析师尤金(Daniel Yergin)创建的剑桥能源咨询公司(Cambridge Energy Research Associates) 或许是IHS公司旗下最有名的公司。

周二，IHS公司在声明中说它遵守所在国家的法律，包括中国的法律，且仍继续与中国多个城市的客户有业务往来。公司说，在薛锋有可能上诉期间，不会对案件细节做出评论。IHS公司并未因此案受到指控。

IHS公司在声明中说，我们想要强调的是，听到薛锋被判刑，我们很难过。

除薛锋外，另有三名中国公民因参与此案而被判刑。李永波（音）被控协助薛锋为IHS公司获取32,115个油井及勘探点的数据库，这些油井及勘探点大多数由中国石油巨头──中石油所拥有。他的刑罚与薛锋相同。

法庭判定另两名研究员陈明金（音）和李东秀（音）也有罪，各处以50,000元人民币的罚款，外加有期徒刑两年半，缓期三年执行。

法庭上称这些油井数据主要与中石油有关，从上世纪90年代中期开始编撰，但此研究项目后来被终止了，中石油从未使用过这些信息。判决书中说，这些数据包括数十年来发现的油井位置、储量及其它相关信息。2003年，这些信息曾在网上出售，后来至少卖给了另一家中国石油企业，但不清楚中石油是否知道信息出售一事。

判决书中说， 2005年，在由薛锋协调的一桩交易中，IHS 公司通过第三方向李永波支付了228,500美元以获取油井信息的副本，所涉及资金是通过六维新风科技发展有限公司转拨的。

法庭认为，这次交易导致三万多条国家机密被送往国外，对国家安全造成了巨大的伤害。法庭说，薛锋和其他人显然知道这些信息将被送往国外。

在为自己辩护时，薛锋说全球能源行业广泛分享油井坐标信息，称之为国家机密是错误的。他还说当时不知道自己正在交易国家机密。其他被告的辩词与之类似。无法联系上述人士发表评论。

代表被中国拘留人士工作的中美对话基金会(Dui Hua Foundation)计划与研究经理罗助华(Joshua Rosenzweig)说，中国的国家机密规定模糊不清。他问道，这些被告有什么办法合理的知道他们正在交易的信息是国家机密呢？