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In September 2011, sheriff\u2019s deputies noticed three ethnic Chinese men near an Iowa cornfield. What started as a trespassing inquiry turned into a two-year FBI operation in which investigators bugged the men\u2019s rental cars, used a warrant intended for foreign terrorists and spies, and flew surveillance planes over corn country \u2013 all to protecting Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer trade secrets. In\xa0The Scientist and the Spy, Mara Hvistendahl describes the unusually far-reaching investigation, which pitted a veteran FBI special agent assigned to fight a national-security priority against Florida resident Robert Mo, who after his academic career faltered took a questionable job with a Chinese agricultural company as a way to support his family.

Industrial espionage by Chinese companies, a real issue, is among the reasons that the Trump administration gives when explaining the genesis of the U.S.-China trade war, and a top counterintelligence target of the FBI. Have efforts to address the problem been successful?\xa0\xa0With what collateral damage?

Author\xa0Mara Hvistendahl\xa0joined the National Committee on\xa0July 30, 2020\xa0for a virtual program to discuss her book and the issues it raises for the United States, Sino-American collaboration in the sciences, and U.S.-China relations. The event was moderated by National Committee board member and Dorsey & Whitney attorney, Mr. Nelson Dong.