Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that China is far from the only country that uses its intelligence services to steal trade secrets and technologies from U.S. businesses.
“What we have accused the Chinese of doing, stealing American companies’ secrets and technology is not new, nor is it done only by the Chinese. There are probably a dozen or 15 countries that steal our technology” in this manner, Gates said during a moderated conversation with Fareed Zakaria on Wednesday hosted by the Council of Foreign Relations in New York City.
In fact, according to Gates—who has also served as the director of the CIA—the U.S. is nearly “alone in the world in not using our intelligence services for competitive advantage of our businesses.” (more)
We've been wrestling with this moral dilemma for too long. Even Henry L. Stimson got off his high horse eventually.
