Engineer denies working as China agent

A Chinese-born engineer accused of conspiring to export U.S. defense technology denied Wednesday in federal court that he ever worked as a spy for the Chinese government.

"Are you a spy for the People's Republic of China?" defense attorney Ronald Kaye asked defendant Chi Mak.

"No," Mak replied.

Kaye then asked Mak whether a man named Pu Pei-Liang was his "handler" in China, as the government has alleged. Mak said Pu was instead an acquaintance who took care of his sister-in-law's elderly mother, adding that he has spoken to Pu only three times and met him once.

"Did you have any relationship with this man ... that he was your handler?" Kaye asked.

"No. I learned this term (handler) only from this case," Mak said.

Authorities believe Mak, a naturalized U.S. citizen, took thousands of pages of documents from his defense contractor employer, Power Paragon of Anaheim, and gave them to his brother, who passed them along to Chinese authorities over a number of years.

Mak, 66, was arrested in 2005 in Los Angeles after FBI agents stopped his brother and sister-in-law as they boarded a flight to Hong Kong. Investigators said they found three encrypted CDs in their luggage containing documents on a submarine propulsion system, a solid-state power switch for ships and a PowerPoint presentation on the future of power electronics.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to export defense material to China, failure to register as a foreign agent, attempted and actual export of defense articles, and making false statements. His wife, brother and other relatives also have been indicted.

Mak testified that he first met Pu in 2000 while he was visiting his sister in Guangzhou, China. Mak said Pu appeared interested in commercial electronics and engaged Mak in a discussion about a magnetic levitation train being built in Shanghai.

Mak said he volunteered to send Pu some magazine articles about linear motors because he thought the gesture might help Mak's brother, who did business with Pu.

After that, Mak said, he talked to Pu only twice, both times by telephone to inquire about the health of his sister-in-law's mother.

He disputed statements from FBI agents who testified that Mak admitted during an untaped jailhouse interview that Pu was his handler and was employed by the Chinese government.

"I did not say that," Mak said. "They gave me three multiple choice options. Intelligence? I said no. Army? I said no. Government? I said I don't know."

Under questioning by Kaye, Mak acknowledged that during an interrogation immediately after his arrest he lied by saying he did not have relatives in China and he purposely underestimated the number of trips he took to China.

"It appears that you did make untruthful statements during this interrogation. Is this something you do usually?" Kaye asked.

"I don't usually lie, but that night they pushed me so hard I was scared," Mak said.

Asked if he was lying on the witness stand, Mak said, "I don't have such a pressure. I believe in justice."