NBC INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT CYNTHIA McFADDEN HAS THIS ONE
AND IT’S A DOOSZY, CYNTHIA, GOOD
MORNING.
MORNING. >>> LAST WEEK THEY CALLED CHINA
BIGGEST THREAT TO THE U.S. OPEN
ESPIONAGE INVESTIGATIONS INTO
THE CHINA, GET, THIS IN ALL 50
STATES, HIGH-TECH, AGRICULTURE
AND ACADEMIA WITH OVER A MILLION
NATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE U.S.,
MANY WORRY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
DEVELOPED HERE IS BEING STOLEN
BY SOME OF THOSE STUDENTS AND
TAKEN BACK TO THEIR COUNTRIES.
WE WENT TO DUKE UNIVERSITY TO
INVESTIGATE A CASE WHERE A
PROFESSOR, WHO INVENTED SPECIAL
INVISIBILITY TECHNOLOGY LEARNED
HIS RESEARCH WALKED OUT THE DOOR
WITH ONE OF HIS CHINESE GRAD
STUDENTS.
STUDENTS. THAT STUDENT A TECH BILLIONAIRE
AGREED TO TALK TO US.
SO WE BEGIN IN CHINA.
MEET THE MAN DUBBED CHINA’S ELON
MUSK.
MUSK. RUOPENG LIU.
RUOPENG LIU. LIKE MUSK, HE’S WORKING ON
SENDING PEOPLE INTO SPACE AND
HAS ALREADY SENT THEM FLYING.
HE’S THE MAN BEHIND JET-POWERED
SURFBOARDS.
SURFBOARDS. AT 35, HE’S A MULTI-BILLIONAIRE.
THE LATEST NUMBERS COMING OUT
SAY YOU ARE WORTH $2.7 BILLION.
TRUE?
TRUE? >> I WON’T COMMENT ON THAT.
>> HE SPECIALIZES, HE TELLS ME,
IN DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGY.
WE MET HIM RECENTLY AT HIS
COMPANY’S HEADQUARTERS IN CHINA.
>> ACTUALLY WE CALL OURSELVES
FUTURE STUDIO.
FUTURE STUDIO. >> FUTURE STUDIO.
>> A LOT OF INSPIRATION REALLY
COME FROM SCIENCE FICTION MOVIE.
>> SCIENCE FICTION HASN’T BEEN
HIS ONLY INSPIRATION.
RUOPENG LIU OWES MUCH OF HIS
SUCCESS TO THIS AMERICAN
SCIENTIST.
SCIENTIST. >> THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT.
>> THIS IS HOW WE DO IT.
>> DR. DAVID SMITH, CONSIDERED
ONE OF THE WORLD’S EXPERTS ON
SOMETHING CALLED META MATERIALS.
LIU CAME HERE TO DUKE UNIVERSITY
TO STUDY IN DR. SMITH’S LAB.
SOME BELIEVE HE WAS ON A MISSION
FROM THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT.
>> DID YOU KNOW ABOUT DR. SMITH,
DAVID SMITH BEFORE YOU WENT?
>> YEAH, FOR SURE.
HE’S VERY FAMOUS BEFORE.
>> FAME US FOR SOMETHING THAT
CAPTURED ATTENTION OF LATE NIGHT
COMEDIANS AND EVEN MADE IT ON
JEOPARDY.
JEOPARDY. >> $200, INNOVATIVE.
>> DUKE UNIVERSITY HAS DEVELOPED
A PROTOTYPE FOR A CLOAK THAT
GRANTS THIS POWER JUST LIKE
HARRY POTTER’S.
HARRY POTTER’S. >> THE TRUTH IS DR. SMITH’S
INVISIBILITY CLOAK IS NOT
EXACTLY LIKE HARRY POTTER’S BUT
IT IS GROUND BREAKING ENOUGH FOR
THE U.S. MILITARY TO HAVE
INVESTED MILLIONS IN HIS BASIC
RESEARCH.
RESEARCH. LIU ENROLLED IN DUKE IN 2006.
>> VERY SMART, YES.
>> VERY DIRECTED, THOUGH.
>> VERY DIRECTED, VERY LIKABLE.
A SWEET KID BASICALLY.
YOU’D ALMOST DESCRIBE HIM AS
BUMBLING A LITTLE BIT.
>> THOUGH HE WAS EXTREMELY
FOCUSED WHEN IT CAME TO GETTING
HIS COLLEAGUES BACK IN CHINA
INVOLVED.
INVOLVED. >> DID YOU START TO GET A LITTLE
BIT ALARMED?
BIT ALARMED? >> THE REAL METRIC IS
PRODUCTIVITY.
PRODUCTIVITY. FOR A TIME HE WAS BEING VERY
PRODUCTIVE, MORE PRODUCTIVE THAN
MOST GRADUATE STUDENTS.
>> LIU TALKED DR. SMITH INTO
BRINGING HIS OLD COLLEAGUES FROM
CHINA INTO HIS LAB.
>> THEY TOOK PICTURES OF THE
LAB.
LAB. >> THEY DID TAKE PICTURES OF THE
LAB.
LAB. >> THEN WHAT DID THEY DO?
>> WE HAVE A CERTAIN APPARATUS
THAT ALLOWS US TO MEASURE THE
CLOAK.
CLOAK. THEY CAME IN AND TOOK PICTURES
AND MEASUREMENTS OF ALL THE
EQUIPMENT THAT WAS USED TO
FABRICATE THAT AND ACTUALLY SENT
THAT BACK TO CHINA.
ONE WAS BUILT IN RUOPENG’S OLD
LAB
LAB LAB.
LAB. >> IS THAT ETHICAL?
IT SOUNDS LIKE THEFT TO ME.
>> IT SOUNDS LIKE THEFT.
IF WE WERE A COMPANY YOU MIGHT
THINK SO.
THINK SO. >> THE FORMER ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
FOR COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE AT THE
FBI SAYS LOTS OF VALUABLE
RESEARCH IS ALLOWED TO WALK
RIGHT OUT THE DOOR INTO THE LABS
OF AMERICA’S ADVERSARIES.
THE UNIT OPENED A CASE ON LIU IN
2010.
2010. >> YOU WORKED IN
COUNTER-INTELLIGENCE FOR A LONG
TIME.
TIME. WHAT DOES YOUR DPUT TELL YOUGUT
WAS HE PLACED AT DUKE BY THE
GOVERNMENT.
GOVERNMENT. >> THIS WAS MORE THAN A GRAD
STUDENT TAKING SOMETHING THAT
DIDN’T BELONG TO HIM.
DID THEY PLACE HIM THERE WITH
THAT INTENTION, I DON’T THINK
WE’LL EVER KNOW.
WAS HE HANDLED, PLACED,
COMPROMISED, RECRUITED,
COMPROMISED, RECRUITED, SUBSIDIZED WHEN HE TOOK IT BACK
TO CHINA, MY THEORY SAYS YES.
>> RUOPENGLYI STRONGLY DENIES
ANY WRONGDOING.
ANY WRONGDOING. >> THERE ARE SOURCES AT THE FBI
WHO BELIEVE THAT THE CHINESE
GOVERNMENT SENT YOU TO DUKE TO
LEARN ABOUT META MATERIALS FROM
DR. SMITH AND BRING IT BACK
HERE.
HERE. >> THAT IS RIDICULOUS.
>> RIDICULOUS?
>> RIDICULOUS? >> RIDICULOUS.
>> RIDICULOUS. IT’S FAR AWAY FROM THE TRUTH.
>> THE FBI CLOSED THEIR CASE ON
LIU A FEW YEARS AGO CITING A
SHORTAGE OF EVIDENCE, MUCH LIKE
DR. SMITH.
DR. SMITH. >> I DIDN’T HAVE ANY EVIDENCE,
AND EVERYTHING THAT HE DID WAS
EXPLAINED AWAY.
EXPLAINED AWAY. >> BUT AFTER LIU GRADUATED AN
E-MAIL EMERGED APPEARING TO BE
FROM LIU TO A COLLEAGUE IN
CHINA, WHICH DR. SMITH SAYS
SHOWS FROM THE TIME HE ARRIVED
AT DUKE, LIU HAD BEEN PLOTTING
SECRETLY TO TAKE TECHNOLOGY
DEVELOPED IN THE DUKE LAB AND
COMMERCIALIZE IT BACK IN CHINA.
>> IF YOU RECEIVED THAT E-MAIL
OR SEEN IT BEFORE HE HAD GOTTEN
HIS PHD, WOULD YOU HAVE TRIED TO
STOP HIM FROM GETTING A DEGREE
AT DUKE?
AT DUKE? >> ABSOLUTELY HE WOULDN’T HAVE A
DEGREE FROM DUKE.
>> BUT HE DOES.
HE WENT HOME TO CHINA WITH HIS
DUKE PHD AND LAUNCHED HIS TECH
COMPANY.
COMPANY. NOW VALUED AT $6 BILLION.
THE FIRST COMPANY THE CURRENT
CHINESE PRESIDENT VISITED AFTER
HIS ELECTION.
HIS ELECTION. WHEN WE VISITED THERE IN THE
LOBBY OF LIU’S COMPANY, AN
ADVANCED VERSION OF DR. SMITH’S
INVISIBILITY CLOAK IS PROUDLY
DISPLAYED.
DISPLAYED. SO RUOPENG LIU RECENTLY BECAME A
MEMBER OF CHINA’S PEOPLE OF
CONGRESS.
CONGRESS. HE TOLD ME WHAT HE’S REALLY
EXCITED THESE DAYS IS DRIVERLESS
ROADS WHERE THE ROADS DRIVES
YOUR CAR FOR YOU.
TRUST ME, THAT’S COMPLICATED.
FINALLY DAN GOLDEN AND HIS
COMPELLING BOOK SPY SCHOOLS" WAS
THE FIRST TO REPORT ON DR. SMITH
AND DR. LIU.
HE SAYS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF
THE MILLION FOREIGN STUDENTS IN
THE U.S. ARE INDEED HERE TO
SIPHON OFF RESEARCH OR RECRUIT
INFORMANTS AND GATHER
INTELLIGENCE.
INTELLIGENCE. I SHOULD TELL YOU THE FBI TOLD
US THE CHINESE HAVE A SHOPPING
LIST OF STUFF THEY WANT AND THIS
RESEARCH AT DUKE WAS ON THE
LIST.
LIST. >> HOW DO YOU STUDY TECHNOLOGY
AT UNIVERSITY AND TAKE IT WITH
YOU?
YOU? WHERE IS THE LINE?
>> IT’S REALLY COMPLICATED.
WE SAID TO UNIVERSITIES, HEY,
WHY NOT CRACK DOWN HERE?
THEY SAID CHINESE AND OTHER
FOREIGN STUDENTS ARE SOME OF
THEIR BEST GRAD STUDENTS.
THEY DON’T WANT TO LOSE THEM.
THEY FULL FARE FOR THE MOST
PART, THEY PAY THE FULL CHECK.
THEY SAY, LOOK, MANY FOREIGN
UNIVERSITIES ARE NOW OPENING
BRANCHES IN CHINA.
IT’S VERY COMPLICATED.
>> PART OF ACADEMICS WHERE
YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO LEARN AND
GROW AND TAKE A THEORY.
>> IT WOULD BE A THEFT IF IT