The Konnech story is much bigger than U.S. election software and best understood through the lens of China’s rise into a global superpower.
Regardless of the actions of federal law enforcement or county prosecutors, many of the facts of this case are archived on deleted Chinese government websites, waiting to be uncovered by those who are willing to look. What is the truth about Konnech’s connection to China?
In 2019, the United States Senate released a report entitled Threats to the U.S. Research Enterprise: China’s Talent Recruitment Plans that explains how China’s more than 200 overseas talent recruitment plans—the most prominent of which is the Thousand Talents Plan—has contributed to China’s global rise over the last 20 years.
During that time, China openly recruited U.S.-based researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs in the public and private sectors to provide China with knowledge and intellectual capital in exchange for monetary gain and other benefits.
China provides salaries, research funding, office space, and other incentives to lure overseas talents into working for China. According to an analysis by the FBI, China invested more than $2 trillion between 2008 and 2020 into human resources as part of this “whole-of-government campaign to recruit talent and foreign experts from around the world.”
FBI - Chinese Talent Plans Encourage Trade Secret Theft, Economic Espionage
“Talent plans can sometimes foster legitimate sharing and collaboration as part of an appropriate business arrangement or research exchange, but this is not the norm. Instead, talent plans usually involve undisclosed and illegal transfers of information, technology, or intellectual property that are one-way and detrimental to U.S. institutions.”
An individual’s undisclosed participation in a talent plan may:
“Pose risks to national security because of the participant’s obligation to the Chinese government”
“Result in inappropriate use of taxpayer funds if the participant is awarded a U.S. government grant”
I will make three main arguments today.
First, the story of Konnech is the story of Jinhua Yulian Network and Jinhua Hongzheng Technology. While the New York Times confirmed the existence of Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary the day before Eugene Yu’s arrest, the U.S. media has been completely silent on the subject ever since. Why report on Eugene Yu’s arrest or his defamation case if you aren’t going to talk about his Chinese companies? These companies have large digital footprints, more employees than Konnech, and are the real story of Eugene Yu’s success.
Second, Eugene Yu was accepted into the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park (“the Park”) on January 25, 2006. The Chinese Government has financed, developed, and ultimately controlled Jinhua Yulian Network ever since. Specifically, Eugene Yu is contractually obligated to follow the laws of the People’s Republic of China and the rules of the Park. In exchange, the Chinese government has provided Eugene Yu with money, software, and success beyond his wildest dreams.
Third, it is highly unlikely that Eugene Yu reported any of his foreign income to the U.S. government. For example, on July 18, 2007, Eugene Yu posted an ad on the Park’s website offering ¥ 5,000,000 yuan for help with developing “software packages.” Eugene Yu listed Jinhua Yulian Network’s URL as www.konnech.com, but do you think he told the U.S. government that Konnech’s software was being funded and developed at the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park?
Let me now lay out the facts in greater detail starting in the order that I discovered them.
Chinese Brief - Overseas Chinese Network
In December 2006, Konnech wrote on a Facebook post “… Confucius Institute at Michigan State University has reached an agreement with Konnech, Inc. to build ChineseBrief.com—a unique interactive communication platform and Chinese language learning tool.”
Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute also announced this partnership on their now archived homepage, “The Confucius Institute recently signed an agreement with the Okemos, MI based company Konnech to offer daily 3-5 minute Mandarin lessons delivered to your phone.”
Eugene Yu now says that he never finished developing this software, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Konnech “signed an agreement” to build ChineseBrief.com for the Confucius Institute.
Furthermore, Eugene Yu did later register a business named CNBrief LLC and build the now-deleted website www.cnbrief.com. The website’s copyright when translated from Chinese to English says “Chinese Brief - Overseas Chinese Network.”
Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
According to Linkedin, Konnech’s employees graduated from numerous Chinese universities including Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Beijing Language and Culture University, China Agricultural University, and Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
For example, Konnech software engineer Wang (Shawn) Xiang, graduated from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) with a bachelors degree in Computer Science in 2012. In 2020, the United States banned NUAA graduate students from entering the country because of the University’s ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Queensland Coders Locked Down In Wuhan
Queensland, Australia had problems with their “election reporting system” in 2020 after their “decision to acquire the Konnech system.”
Queensland government officials said Konnech’s software was not developed as planned because coding resources were locked down in Wuhan, China.
This led to Queensland Parliament Members asking—why Australian election software was being coded by Chinese coders?
After Eugene Yu’s arrest last month, MP Fiona Simpson repeated her concerns about Konnech’s Chinese coders to the Queensland Parliament and explained that, “Eugene Yu tried to sue me for raising issues about Konnech.”
“I believe these legal maneuvers by Mr. Yu are attempts to bully and gag an elected representative and our continued demand of greater transparency and accountability as well as security of our election system.”
China Association for Science and Technology (CAST)
Konnech’s CEO Eugene Yu is featured in a Chinese magazine entitled "Overseas Scholars" written by the China Association for Science and Technology in the United States (CAST-USA) and the American Zhu Kezhen Education Foundation (AZKEF).
CAST is a transnational organization and constituent member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) whose stated mission is to “maintain close ties with millions of Chinese scientists, engineers and other people working in the fields of science and technology,” and to operate as “the bridge linking Chinese science and technology community with the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government,” according to organization’s archived “About Us” webpage.
In 2003, CAST established the Help Our Motherland through Elite Intellectual Resources from Overseas Program (HOME) in concert with the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party with the goal of recruiting overseas science and technology talent for the purpose of transferring technology and intellectual property back to China.
The CPPCC’s role in channeling overseas science and technology knowledge toward China’s development has grown since a 2013 directive from General Secretary Xi Jinping to focus on incentivizing overseas Chinese to contribute their technical skills and expertise to China’s national rejuvenation.
By 2020, a United States congressional body warned that the Chinese government has built a “sprawling ecosystem of structures, programs, and incentives to coopt and exploit overseas experts for the science and technology they acquire abroad.”
“Chinese leaders have long viewed advanced science and technology (S&T) as key to China’s comprehensive national power and sought to acquire it through licit and illicit means from developed countries like the United States,” the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) said in the report.
“This ecosystem sponsors promising Chinese students and scholars at U.S. and other foreign universities, incentivizes their return to China for the long term, and employs transnational organizations to channel S&T know-how from those remaining abroad back to mainland China.”
The U.S. Senate report continues:
“Many programs associated with Beijing’s S&T transfer ecosystem—including scholarships to study abroad, talent recruitment plans, and entrepreneurship parks—contribute to China’s military-civil fusion strategy by collecting specific technologies and know-how that improve the capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and advance the goals” of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
“This ecosystem sponsors promising Chinese students and scholars to study at foreign universities, incentivizes or requires their return to China in exchange for this support, and recruits researchers via hundreds of talent programs. Moreover, it integrates Chinese students and scholars remaining abroad with organizations that facilitate the transfer of S&T back to the Mainland, where it can be exploited by the PLA, government ministries, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), state-run laboratories, and startups.”
“Even when overseas Chinese students and scholars do stay in the United States after graduation, China’s transnational technology transfer organizations and talent recruitment plans provide a means to contribute to China’s national rejuvenation by transferring technology and know-how without requiring physical return.”
China’s Military-Civil Fusion Strategy
CAST which “maintains at least 12 chapters and about 8,000 members located across the United States” is a part of China’s military-civil fusion strategy, a plan which intentionally blurs the lines between public and private enterprises, to ensure that the nation’s military, espionage, and commercial interests are intertwined.
“CAST contributes to China’s overseas technology acquisition efforts chiefly through the “Haizhi Plan,” a sprawling program that conducts a plethora of outreach initiatives to overseas Chinese students and scholars,” the report continues.
“For the first ten years of its existence, the Haizhi Plan engaged in many of the activities typically associated with talent programs, such as sponsoring short-term trips to China, maintaining lists of prominent overseas Chinese students and scholars regarded as experts in their scientific field, organizing recruitment events, sponsoring startup competitions, offering incentives to entrepreneurs to return to China, and enabling scientific cooperation projects between overseas and domestic institutions.”
AZKEF Flies Charles Lieber To China
In the magazine, CAST-USA refers to Eugene Yu by his Chinese name Yu Jianwei (于建伟) and says that he is an “officer” on the “finance committee” of the American Zhu Kezhen Education Foundation. The foundation’s stated mission is “to promote exchange and cooperation between Zhejiang University and universities in the United States,” and “to invite United States professors or scientists to Zhejiang University.”
In 2002, AZKEF flew Professor Charles Lieber, the head of Harvard’s Chemistry Department, to Zhejiang University to give a speech on “Nanotech in Today’s World.”
According to AZKEF, Prof. Charles Lieber’s visit “produced a lot of excitement” and other universities such as the “Chinese Academy of Sciences” also invited Lieber to visit their campuses:
The 2002 lecturer, Prof. Charles Lieber, the Mark Hyman Professor of Chemistry of Harvard University is a recognized foremost scientist in nano science and technology, an emerging field of intense worldwide interest. The announcement of his visit to ZU instantly produced a lot of excitement in scientific circles in China. Fudan University, University of Science and Technology of China, Tshinghua University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences took this advantage to invite Prof. Lieber to also visit their campuses.
Prof. Lieber’s lectures at ZU attracted a large audience. He received an honorary professorship from ZU and provided valuable feedback to ZU’s Center for Nano Science and Technology after hearing presentations by five ZU professors in this area. Prof. Lieber truly found this trip interesting and enjoyable, and stated that it was the best trip he has taken in many, many years.
In 2020, Prof. Charles Lieber was arrested for concealing his funding from the Wuhan University of Technology and his participation in China’s Thousand Talents Program.
At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Bill Priestap, the former Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, stated that China’s talent recruitment plans are effectively “brain gain programs” that “encourage theft of intellectual property from U.S. institutions.”
Priestap continued, “For example, China’s talent recruitment plans, such as the Thousand Talents Program, offer competitive salaries, state-of-the-art research facilities, and honorific titles, luring both Chinese overseas talent and foreign experts alike to bring their knowledge and experience to China, even if that means stealing proprietary information or violating export controls to do so.”
Eugene Yu was an “officer” on the “finance committee” of a Chinese foundation in the United States tasked with flying professors like Charles Lieber to China and this discovery was made on a China Association for Science and Technology in the United States magazine entitled “Overseas Scholars.”
In a similar fashion to how the U.S. congressional report described CAST’s overseas science and technology acquisition efforts, AZKEF keeps list of talented overseas Chinese students, offers incentives for prominent scientists to fly to China, and focuses on bridging Zhejiang University with universities in the United States.
International Elite Entrepreneurship
A Chinese document entitled International Elite Entrepreneurship Modern Service Outsourcing provides a detailed biography of Konnech. The document features 46 Chinese high-tech companies that operate overseas and was written around the 2008 Great Financial Crisis based on Konnech's reference to the "economic downturn."
The biography says the mission of Konnech is to become “one of the top 50 e-commerce service providers for schools and government in the United States within 10 years.” It also says:
“The company will enter a phase of rapid development after the implementation of the venture fund in Wuzhong.”
"In terms of specialized technology, we have been developing and hiring technical personnel with expertise in the field in a rapid manner by utilizing the role of corporate and university professors and graduate classes for project development, with the aim of receiving advanced applied technology."
"... it is an indisputable fact that many cutting-edge products come from American university campuses. We must take the corresponding path and cooperate with American universities and Zhejiang University and other domestic institutions to focus on the development of applied technologies and the application-oriented development of specialized technologies."
The document describes the problems facing the U.S. market citing “expensive software programming fees and talent shortages” and reduced “funding for IT projects” before concluding, “in this environment, the role of our China branch is fully demonstrated.”
It is unknown if Eugene Yu ever reported Konnech’s “venture fund in Wuzhong” to the U.S. government.
China’s Economic and Technological Development Zones
The document also says that Eugene Yu worked for the Chinese government as a Project Manager of the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone (GETDZ) from 1983 until 1985. He worked in the Industrial Project Negotiation Department and "completed the introduction of several major projects."
Since the launch of the GETDZ in 1984, China has established 219 national-level Economic and Technological Development Zones (ETDZs), which helped launch China’s rise to global economic superpower.
In order to promote science and technology intensive industries, ETDZs offer financial incentives and preferential policies that target domestic and overseas enterprises focused on manufacturing, scientific, and technological industries.
Last month, when Eugene Yu’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss his criminal case in California, they included a section entitled FACTUAL BACKGROUND that says he “worked in various locations” after he graduated from Zhejiang University and before he was accepted into Wake Forest University.
This background fails to mention that Eugene Yu worked for the Chinese government as a Project Manager in the GETDZ:
Eugene Yu was born and raised in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China. In 1974, as part of China’s cultural revolution, Mr. Yu was sent to a communal farm where he labored for four years in squalor conditions. In 1977, after Chairman Mao died, Mr. Yu scored high on a nationwide test, qualifying him for admission to study engineering at Zhejiang University.
After graduating from college, he was sent to work in various locations in China. Mr. Yu then met and married his wife Donna Wang. In 1986, Mr. Yu and Dr. Wang were accepted to graduate school programs at Wake Forest University, where Mr. Yu obtained his MBA degree.
Two decades later, Eugene Yu would return to China to launch his company Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. (金华宇联网络科技有限公司) in the Jinhua Economic and Technological Development Zone (JETDZ).
Jinhua Yulian Network (金华宇联网络)
Unified Social Credit Code: 913307007829070364
Registration Number: 330700400010234
Legal representative: Yu Jianwei (于建伟)
Type: Limited liability company (foreign natural person sole proprietorship)
Employees: Yu Lin (于林), Chen Wei (陈伟), Shao Guojun (邵国君)
Website: www.yu-lian.cn
Partners: Konnech (www.konnech.com), Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院), Jinhua Science & Technology Park (金华科技园), Jinhua Science and Technology Park Entrepreneurship Service Center (金华科技园创业服务中心), Jinhua Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurship Park (金华留学人员创业园), Ministry of Science and Technology (中华人民共和国科学技术部), Zhejiang University (浙江大学)
Registration Authority: Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Wucheng District, Jinhua City
Date of establishment: November 29, 2005
Cancellation date: November 01, 2021
Residence: No. 988, Shuanglong South Street, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市双龙南街988号)
Residence: No.1583, Binhong Road, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市宾虹路1583号)
Residence: No. 383, Renmin West Road, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市人民西路383号)
Jinhua Yulian Network’s Website (yu-lian.cn)
In August, an independent journalist found an archived version of Eugene Yu’s Chinese company’s website "yu-lian.cn.”
In 2013, on “yu-lian.cn,” Eugene Yu openly praised “Comrade Jiang Zemin” and the “Chinese Communist Party” stating that his company’s principle is “political tasks first and economic benefits of enterprises second” before listing “Election Management Solutions, Detroit” and “US Overseas Voters” as his success stories.
“In line with the principle of "political tasks first and economic benefits of enterprises second," our company has perfected and formed the whole set of election management theory and software tools in line with China's national conditions.”
“We hope to ride on the spring breeze of political reform and provide you with election consulting services and election campaign management in line with China's national conditions based on our democratic election campaigns with Chinese characteristics.”
The U.S. corporate media has remained completely silent on Eugene Yu’s Chinese company ever since the New York Times confirmed that Konnech owned a Chinese subsidiary named Jinhua Yulian Network Technology (金华宇联网络科技有限公司).
Only The Blaze, Gateway Pundit, and independent journalists have written anything about Jinhua Yulian Network since the Times first confirmed its existence on October 3, 2022.
I believe this is because Catherine Engelbrecht and Gregg Phillips, who are two prominent faces of the national election integrity movement, initially broke the story. Unfortunately, politics and the narrative are more important to the corporate media than the integrity of U.S. elections.
Regardless of how the media spins it, it’s impossible to report the facts on Eugene Yu’s arrest and defamation case, without mentioning Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary.
Eugene Yu registered Jinhua Yulian Network’s website domain “yu-lian.cn” to his email address “eyu@konnech.com” on February 25, 2006.
Here’s Jinhua Yulian Network’s “Consultation Service” page in Chinese:
Here’s that same “Consultation Service” page translated into English:
And here’s Jinhua Yulian Network’s “Customer Case” page translated into English:
On Jinhua Yulian Network’s “Consultation Service” webpage, Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary clearly states that it provides election solutions for all levels of the Chinese Communist Party: “NPC [National People’s Congress], CPPCC [Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference], trade unions, overseas Chinese Federations, Communist Youth Leagues, villages, and towns….”
This is corroborated by public records of Jinhua Yulian Network bidding on contracts to provide China’s National People’s Congress with election software.
For example, on July 24, 2017, Jinhua Yulian Network bid ¥ 54,800 yuan to the provide an “electronic voting system” to the “Standing Committee of the People's Congress of Tangyin County.” On December 25 , 2017, Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary bid ¥ 419,700 yuan to provide an “electronic voting system” to the “Pengyang County People’s Congress.”
And, on September 17, 2018, the company bid ¥ 329,500 yuan to provide a "voting system” to the "People's Congress of Hecheng District."
Once again, it’s highly unlikely that Eugene Yu reported to the U.S. Government that he received foreign income for providing “electronic voting systems” to the Chinese Government.
This is highlighted by the fact that Konnech has repeatedly stated in its defamation lawsuit against True The Vote that “neither Eugene Yu nor Konnech have ever had any association with the Chinese Communist Party.”
To the contrary, Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary, which develops U.S. election software, also develops election software for the Chinese Communist Party.
China’s National Intelligence law mandates information sharing between “private” businesses and intelligence agencies, even for Chinese businesses operating in other countries. China’s National Intelligence Law states: “Any organization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work in accordance with the law.”
The Chinese Government’s military-civil fusion strategy adheres to the philosophy that every component of Chinese society is responsible for ensuring the national security of the country.
And while the New York Times wrote a total of three sentences about “Jinhua Yulian Network Technology, a subsidiary out of China, where programmers developed and tested software,” the company describes itself as “the largest and most professional software developer in Jinhua area, specializing in providing management software development, website system development, mobile APP application client development, Weibo and WeChat development and other development services.”
“Utilizing the mobile intelligence advantages of cloud platform and big data, it provides overall solutions of informatization and mobile applications for government departments, enterprises and institutions at all levels.”
Eugene Yu’s success with Jinhua Yulian Network gave rise to another company named Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd. (金华鸿正科技有限公司).
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology is a national-level high-tech enterprise partnered with Huawei, Lenovo, China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom, and the company provides election and conferencing software to China’s National People’s Congress.
In 2020, former CIA Director Mike Pompeo described Chinese state-backed telecom giants as “Trojan horses for Chinese intelligence.”
“We can't let information go across networks that we don't have confidence won't be hijacked by the Chinese Communist Party,” Mike Pompeo said in a speech that called on the international community to ban Huawei’s 5G network.
Despite the fact that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has designated China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, and Huawei as “national security threats,” Konnech registered “hongzhengtech.cn” for Jinhua Hongzheng Technology to admin@konnech.com on July 31, 2015.
As a result, Konnech had core control over Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s website—a company that operates in more than 20 provinces across China as the premier voting technology provider for the National People’s Congress.
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology (金华鸿正科技)
Unified social credit code: 91330702310503017J
Registration Number: 330702000106542
Legal representative: Yu Lin (于林)
Type: Limited liability company (invested or controlled by natural persons)
Date of establishment: April 13, 2015
Websites: www.hongzhengtech.cn (金华鸿正科技), www.2dmeeting.cn, www.hzvoting.cn (金华鸿正科技有限公司), www.rdlznet.cn (履职系统), www.lankaord.com (LK履职系统), www.hongzhengtech.com (金华鸿正科技)
Employees: Jianwei Yu (于建伟), Chen Wei (陈伟)
Partners: Jinhua Yulian Network Technology (Konnech), National People's Congress, Lenovo, Huawei, China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile
Registration Authority: Market Supervision and Administration Bureau of Wucheng District, Jinhua City
Residence: No. 383, Renmin West Road, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市人民西路383号)
Residence: No. 669 Yuquan East Road, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市玉泉东路669号)
In 2016, on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, Jinhua Hongzheng Technology introduced itself saying that “its predecessor "Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd." (Konnech., Ltd) was established in November 2005.”
Here’s Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s Weibo introduction page in Chinese:
Here’s Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s Weibo introduction page translated into English:
On that same Weibo page, Jinhua Hongzheng Technology features Chinese characters written below the official seals of; Washington D.C., Loudoun County, Virginia, Detroit, Michigan, St. Louis, Missouri, Prince William County, Virginia, St. Charles County, Missouri, Hillsborough County, Florida, Edmonton, Alberta, Regina, Saskatchewan, and the State of Montana.
In 2016, Konnech posted those same seals on its American website.
Although, Eugene Yu posted the seals on konnech.com without the “Chinese characteristics.”
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology repeatedly claims that it is a byproduct of Jinhua Yulian Network and Konnech.
On Baidu Library, Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s says:
Our company is a technology-based enterprise specializing in providing comprehensive solutions for election voting and office automation, and in 2015, we registered Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co.
The predecessor of our company is Jinhua Yulian Company, which was registered in Jinhua in 2005, specializing in offshore software outsourcing services. Now we continue the main backbone and technical force of Jinhua Yulian Company, with the world's leading research and development experience of large public system software and global encryption security technology and professional technical team.
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology repeatedly says:
“Its predecessor, “Konnech., LTD.” was established in November 2005. It is a software company that has been engaged in software offshore outsourcing services for more than ten years. Partner (SilverPartner) and 6-year Apple (Apple) enterprise software developer (iOSEnterpriseDeveloper), has a US product invention patent and 2 Chinese technology invention patents. Served clients include more than 20 government clients in North America including Washington, D.C., and Edmonton, Canada.”
On an archived version of Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s own website, the Chinese company perfectly describes Konnech's software development journey—from Microsoft, to telecommunications and education software, and finally to an "interactive platform of voter election information services in the United States."
This same webpage features Jinhua Yulian Network patent and a Konnech patent registered to none other than Eugene Yu.
Here’s Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s “About Us” page in Chinese:
Here’s Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s “About Us” page translated into English:
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology also features Jinhua Yulian Network’s and Konnech’s patents on another archived webpage entitled “Chinese and American Patents.”
Shao Guojun (邵国君) designed Konnech’s system architecture between 2006 and 2015 before becoming a "Senior Architect" at Huawei, where he worked on the Chinese telecom giant's “cloud platform architecture.”
Shao Guojun graduated from Suzhou University of Science and Technology in 2004 and describes himself as Konnech’s “technical manager” who designed “the architecture of the system,” formulated “coding standards,” and coordinated “the whole project,” on his Linkedin profile.
In 2012, Eugene Yu applied for a U.S. patent entitled "Device and Method for Selection of Options by Motion Gestures" with co-inventors Shao Guojun (邵国君) and Yu Jun (于君) from Jinhua, Zhejiang, China.
Konnech’s patent describes a method of voting for the visually impaired.
The other two co-inventors, Shao Guojun and Yu Jun , are equity holders in Jinhua Hongzheng Technology and Eugene Yu registered the company’s website to admin@konnech.com.
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology also repeatedly displays Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary’s patent as its own, Chinese patent (#CN104618378A), “System and data processing method for network voting of absent electorates,” awarded to inventors Chen Wei (陈伟) and Shao Guojun (邵国君) on February 13, 2015.
The rights of this patent were transferred on October 7, 2015, from Jinhua Konnech Inc. (Jinhua Yulian Network) to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology.
Overseas talent recruitment program contracts often require participants to patent inventions in China, effectively ordering technologies to be transferred to the nation.
While Konnech has 1 registered voting technology patent, Jinhua Hongzheng Technology holds 12 patents and more than 50 software copyrights.
Interestingly, two months after Chen Wei 陈伟 and Shao Guojun 邵国君 registered the network voting patent for Jinhua Yulian Network which was transferred to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology, Chen Wei registered a very similar patent for Zhejiang University.
Here’s Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s patent:
System and data processing method for online voting for absentee elections (用于缺席选举的网络投票的系统和数据处理方法) CN104618378A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN104618378A/zh#title
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟 Shao Guojun邵国君
Filed By Jinhua Konnech Inc.
Current Assignee Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co Ltd
And here’s the patent Chen Wei registered for Zhejiang University two months later:
Ballot processing system, method and apparatus for network voting system (用于网络投票系统的选票处理系统、方法以及装置) CN104935565A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN104935565A/en
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟
Current Assignee Zhejiang Normal University CJNU
Here are some of the other patents registered by Jinhua Hongzheng Technology:
Internet Online Voting System (互联网在线投票系统) CN105704117A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN105704117A
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟 Shao Guojun邵国君
Current Assignee Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co Ltd
Data processing methods for electronic elections 用于电子选举的数据处理方法 CN105827399A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN105827399A/zh
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟 Zhao Xiangkun 赵祥坤
Current Assignee Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co Ltd
Text processing method and device 种文本处理方法及装置 CN113420529A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN113420529A
Inventor Yu Lin 于林
Current Assignee Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co ltd
A kind of charging cabinet of tablet personal computer 种平板电脑的充电柜 CN206506323U
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN206506323U/
Inventor Yu Lin 于林
Current Assignee Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co ltd
Interface display method and device 界面显示方法和装置 CN114398016A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN114398016A
Inventor Yu Lin 于林
Current Assignee Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co ltd
Between 2006 and 2009, Chen Wei registered many patents for Zhejiang University that share similarities to Konnech, Jinhua Yulian Network, and Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s future patented technologies.
Chen Wei is a professor at Zhejiang University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park features a Zhejiang University “technology transfer center.”
Some examples of Chen Wei’s earlier patents for Zhejiang University include:
Method for constructing webpage crawler based on repeated removal of news CN101694658B
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN101694658B/
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟
Current Assignee Zhejiang Normal University CJNU
Method for searching character string 种用于检索字符串的方法 CN1889080A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN1889080A
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟
Current Assignee Zhejiang Normal University CJNU
Method for assisting blind men to using network search service 种辅助盲人使用网络搜索服务的方法CN101430694A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN101430694A/
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟
Current Assignee Zhejiang Normal University CJNU
Personalized push method for vocal web page news 种有声网页新闻的个性化推送方法 CN101398839A
https://patents.google.com/patent/CN101398839A
Inventor Chen Wei 陈伟
Current Assignee Zhejiang Normal University CJNU
In 2020, Wucheng News Network acknowledged Eugene Yu worked for Jinhua Hongzheng Technology in an article that describes the Konnech CEO’s international election expertise and Chen Wei’s cryptography expertise.
“In order to maintain the industry’s leading position, the company continues to develop and innovate, and has hired Mr. Yu Jianwei, well-known in the international election field, as the company’s technical and business consultant,” the report said.
“At the same time, the company has hired a domestic cryptography doctoral team to continue to invest in election voting and government information security encryption.”
Chen Wei is a Ph.D. in Cryptography from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, a member of the prestigious China Cryptography Society, a professor at Zhejiang University, and the Deputy General Manager of Jinhua Hongzheng Technology.
In 2020, the U.S. government’s End-User Review Committee (ERC), composed of representatives of the Departments of Commerce, State, Defense, Energy, and Treasury, added Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications to a list of entities that pose a significant national security risk to the United States.
The ERC determined that “Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications directly participates in the research and development, and production, of advanced weapons and advanced weapons systems in support of People's Liberation Army modernization, which poses a direct threat to U.S. national security.”
Chen Wei’s research focuses on block cryptography, hash function design and analysis, and intrusion detection technology.
Some of his public research papers include:
He is also the author or co-author of these books:
Perspective Information Hiding (透视信息隐藏) [M]. Beijing: National Defense Industry Press (国防工业出版社), February 2007
A Complete Guide to Snort Lightweight Intrusion Detection System. Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications Press, July 2009
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology is a national high-tech enterprise that built on the success of Konnech and Jinhua Yulian Network. The company now provides software solutions for more than 430 National People’s Congress clients across more than 20 provinces at the national, municipal, county, and township level.
Here representatives from Zhejiang Jiashan People's Congress, Hubei Provincial People's Congress, Gansu Dunhuang People's Congress, and other delegations of National People’s Congress visit Jinhua Hongzheng Technology’s offices:
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology repeatedly acknowledges that the company began with the founding of Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary Jinhua Yulian Network in 2005.
For example, here the company says that the “founding team was established to start the construction of government affairs informatization in 2005” and “after 10 years of hard work and savings” the company was able to launch its “national third-generation conference voting system in 2015.”
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology is a member of the “Company Branch Committee of the Communist Party of China,” the “Four-Star grassroots party organization,” the “Organization Department of the Jinhua Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China,” and the company has its own “Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Digital Election Research and Development Center,” and is an “AAA rated credit enterprise.”
Jinhua Hongzheng Technology develops web browser and mobile applications for China’s National People’s Congress:
Jinhua Yulian Network first registered address is No. 988 Shuanglong South Street, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市双龙南街988号) which is also an address registered to the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park (JHTP).
In October 2002, the Jinhua Municipal Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed a contract to build a science and technology park becoming the first science and technology park jointly built by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a prefecture-level government. In 2005, it was recognized as a national-level technology business incubator by the Ministry of Science and Technology.
JHTP is a Chinese central government funded economic incubator that provides financial support, living facilities, server hosting, internet access, university collaboration, technology transfers, research, and patents to promising domestic and overseas enterprises.
In 2010, Jinhua Yulian Network moved to No. 1583 Binhong Road, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市宾虹路1583号) where it shared an address with Lin Yu's Jinhua Red Date Software. Eugene Yu registered the website www.reddatesoftware.com and featured the website in the footer of Jinhua Yulian Network's website www.yu-lian.cn.
Jinhua Yulian Network then moved to No. 383, Renmin West Road, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市人民西路383号) where it shared an address with Jinhua Hongzheng Technology, another company also registered to Lin Yu.
The Jinhua Municipal Government called the Science and Technology Park “a public service platform to carry out extensive exchanges and cooperation of talents, technologies, and projects.” By 2005, JHTP had signed comprehensive scientific and technological cooperation agreements with 45 domestic universities including the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was founded in 1949 and operates as a national think tank with dozens of campuses, hundreds of laboratories, and more than 50,000 researchers.
CAS is the world’s largest research organization and has been called the “backbone” of the Chinese innovation system. According to the congressional U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, CAS has “connections to Chinese military, nuclear, and cyberespionage programs.”
In 2019, the U.S. Department of Defense released a report that found CAS is the:
“Highest academic institution for comprehensive R&D in the natural and applied sciences in China and reports directly to the State Council in an advisory capacity, with much of its work contributing to products for military use.”
CAS and CAS-owned companies develop AI initiatives, hypersonic spaceplanes, robotic submarines, underwater platforms, and missile technology for the Chinese military.
The Justice Department has indicted multiple individuals affiliated with CAS who were recruited by Chinese overseas talent programs and responsible for facilitating the transfer of trade secrets and military technology from U.S. firms.
Jinhua Science and Technology Park Yatai Incubation Base (金华科技园亚泰孵化基地) is one of the six incubation bases operated by Jinhua Science and Technology Park Entrepreneurship Service Center. It covers an area of 22 acres and has an office area of 16,918 square meters. It is mainly oriented to the digital economy industry, cultivating and incubating start-ups and small, medium, and micro enterprises that meet the park’s industrial requirements.
The Jinhua Network Economy Center (金华网络经济中心) is another incubation base operated by the Jinhua Science and Technology Park Entrepreneurship Service Center. With a construction area of 26,755 square meters and a total of 16 floors the Jinhua Network Economy Center is focused on R&D for the digital economy and oriented towards growing enterprises that meet the Park’s requirements.
The Jinhua Science and Technology Park (Hangzhou) located in the Anheng Building is another incubation base operated by the Jinhua Science and Technology Park Entrepreneurship Service Center.
The building is owned by Hangzhou Anheng Information Technology Co., Ltd. (杭州安恒信息技术股份有限公司), also known as DBAPPSecurity Co., Ltd (安恒信息), which is a publicly traded company that focuses on the research and development, production and sales of network information security products and services.
Hangzhou Anheng Information Technology Co., Ltd. (DBAPPSecurity) was founded in 2007 by Mr. Fan Yuan, an expert in the National Thousand Talents Program. As a well-known brand in frontier fields such as cloud security, Internet application security, big data security, smart city security and industrial control security, it has been selected as one of the top 500 global cyber security companies for many times.
It has successively provided network information security for many major events such as the Beijing Olympic Games, the 60th anniversary of the National Day, the Shanghai World Expo, the Guangzhou Asian Games, the 70th anniversary of the Anti-Japanese War, the four consecutive World Internet Conferences, the G20 Hangzhou Summit, and the Xiamen BRICS Summit.
Anheng Information list the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, China Petroleum, and Sinopec among its partners.
Jinhua Science and Technology Park Entrepreneurship Service Center uses the 7th, 9th, and 12th floor of the Anheng Building where entrepreneurs focus on the digital economy, new energy vehicles, biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing, and other high-end R&D.
“China’s specialized “entrepreneurship parks” target overseas Chinese students and scholars for recruitment to appropriate their knowledge to Beijing’s commercial and potentially military benefit,” according to the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) report.
“These parks partner with local universities and research institutes to spin off the knowledge and technical processes returned students and scholars had acquired while abroad into successful Chinese technology companies.”
The U.S. congressional report continues:
“Entrepreneurship parks for returnees may also be located near science and technology complexes that are designated centers for military-civil fusion. For example, the Mianyang Science and Technology Innovation Zone in Sichuan Province is a large complex that was authorized to conduct military-civil-fusion-related projects in 2002.”
“The Mianyang Overseas Students Pioneer Park, which itself incubates around 30 businesses, is located close to the zone’s administrative headquarters, suggesting a high likelihood that cross-pollination occurs between the parks. A 2016 article in the People’s Daily praising the dynamism of military-civil-fusion-related research at Mianyang Science and Technology Innovation Zone quoted the head of one of its centers who noted that more than 60 of his employees were returned overseas students and scholars.”
“Beijing also provides attractive business incentives to overseas Chinese students and scholars to return to China permanently to start their own companies, creating yet another channel for the absorption of foreign technologies. These incentives include central government financial support for returnees seeking startup capital, increased space for returnee startups in science parks, greater participation by government-owned venture capital funds in financing returnee startups, preferential tax policies, discounts on rent and land for business facilities, policy changes allowing returnee businesses to compete for government procurement contracts, and simplified business registration procedures.”
Jinhua Yulian Network’s address at No. 988 Shuanglong South Street, Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province (浙江省金华市双龙南街988号) is 500 meters away from the Jinhua People’s Government building at No. 801 Shuanglong South Street (金华市双龙南街801号) which is across the street from the Jinhua Science and Technology Bureau at No. 828 Shuanglong South Street (双龙南街828号).
Jinhua Yulian Network was accepted into the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park’s Entrepreneurship Service Center (JHTP) on January 25, 2006, according to an archived JHTP webpage.
The Chinese Academy of Sciences JHTP provides entrepreneurship services for overseas students returning to China, working and living facilities, scientific and technological services, financial support, and training.
This includes research and development sites, assistance in industrial and tax registration, and assistance in applying for national, provincial, municipal, and local government grants.
The Park even offers “special training in management, finance, law, foreign language, and computers.”
In 2006, the Ministry of Science and Technology awarded JHTP 3 million yuan to build an Internet Data Center (IDC) through China’s national “Torch Program.” In 1988, the Chinese Communist Party’s State Council launched the Ministry of Science and Technology’s national Torch Program with the goal of speeding up the nation’s “science and technological industrialization.”
JHTP’s IDC improved the Park’s “broadband speed” and provided a “regional professional information service sharing platform, which solves the information sharing of more than 50 Internet companies and more than 200 industrial enterprises in the park.”
Jinhua Yulian Network received subsidized internet, network support, and internet hosting services as one of the Park’s incubating enterprises.
In return, as a foreign-invested limited liability company residing in the JHTP, Konnech’s Chinese subsidiary was contractually obligated to follow the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Foreign-Funded Enterprises” and “Company Law of the People's Republic of China.”
Here’s an archived 2007 JHTP application form for introducing foreign technology and talents.
FBI - Chinese Talent Plans Encourage Trade Secret Theft, Economic Espionage
“Talent plans can sometimes foster legitimate sharing and collaboration as part of an appropriate business arrangement or research exchange, but this is not the norm. Instead, talent plans usually involve undisclosed and illegal transfers of information, technology, or intellectual property that are one-way and detrimental to U.S. institutions.”
An individual’s undisclosed participation in a talent plan may:
“Pose risks to national security because of the participant’s obligation to the Chinese government”
“Result in inappropriate use of taxpayer funds if the participant is awarded a U.S. government grant”
In 2009, the Zhejiang Overseas Talent Network, a Chinese government-run website, offered up to 5 million yuan in start-up funds for overseas students who returned to China to start a business.
“With the implementation of the “Thousand Talent Program” of the central talent work, the return of overseas students to start a business has become a topic that has attracted much attention from overseas talents and all levels of society,” Zhejiang Overseas Talent Network said.
As part of a separate overseas talent program entitled the “5050 Plan,” Zhejiang Overseas Talent Network wrote, “There are many conditions for applying for “5050 plan” entrepreneurial projects, but the support policies given are definitely leading in China.”
“After the project is reviewed by experts, it can be determined as a category A, category B, and category C project, and corresponding support will be given.”
“Category A projects: start-up capital of up to 5 million yuan; rent subsidy for office space within 500 square meters for up to three years (especially excellent projects can be given 1,000 square meters for three-years); full bank loan of up to 5 million yuan within two years…”
Category B projects were offered up to 1 million yuan and Category C projects up to 500,000 yuan.
On July 18, 2007, Eugene Yu posted an ad on the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park’s website offering “5 million yuan” for help with developing “software packages” for Jinhua Yulian Network.
He listed Jinhua Yulian Network’s URL as www.konnech.com.
In 2007, 5 million yuan was worth around $700,000 U.S. and was the prize money offered to members of China’s Thousand Talents Program and other elite overseas entrepreneurs.
According to the U.S. Senate report on China’s overseas talent recruitment program, some contracts stipulate that overseas recruits cannot disclose their participation.
It is unknown if Eugene Yu reported his foreign income received from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park to the U.S. government. Similarly, U.S. election software companies are often asked to disclose foreign funding and affiliations when applying for contracts with states, government grants, and various other applications.
FBI - China: Risk to Corporate America
"Talent plans target scientists, engineers, professionals, foreign government employees, and contractors to bring foreign research and technology with them to Chinese universities, businesses, and state-owned enterprises in China. All talent programs constitute a contractual funding source from a foreign government."
In 2020, the FBI released a statement warning that Chinese talent plans encourage trade secret theft and economic espionage.
“China oversees hundreds of talent plans. All incentivize its members to steal foreign technologies needed to advance China’s national, military, and economic goals,” the FBI wrote on its counter-intelligence website.
“China recruits science and technology professors, researchers, students, and others—regardless of citizenship or national origin—to apply for talent plans. Individuals with expertise in or access to a technology that China doesn’t have are preferred.”
“Participants enter into a contract with a Chinese university or company—often affiliated with the Chinese government—that usually requires them to:”
“Subject themselves to Chinese laws”
“Share new technology developments or breakthroughs only with China (they can’t share this information with their U.S employer or host without special authorization from China)”
“Recruit other experts into the program—often their own colleagues”
The FBI report continues:
“China will let people with existing jobs in the United States participate in talent plans part-time so they can maintain their access to intellectual property, trade secrets, pre-publication data and methods, and U.S. funding for their research.”
“Talent plan participants are offered multiple financial, personal, and professional benefits in exchange for their efforts.”
“China’s talent plans have successfully recruited participants around the world to work on key programs like military technologies, nuclear energy, wind tunnel design, and advanced lasers.”
In 2010, Konnech CEO Eugene Yu created the domain abvote.com.
"Konnech will provide the State with an absentee ballot wizard that is (a) quickly designed and generated, (b) satisfying and user-friendly to the UOCAVA voters, (c) completely secure, and (d) over-all more cost-effective than any other solution,” the website says.
“ABVote.com, an Absentee Ballot Online Delivery Software of Konnech, Inc.”
The website goes on to say Konnech was chosen by the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) in conjunction with Montana's and Nevada's Secretary of State "to build and operate an on-line wizard to deliver ballots" to Montana's and Nevada's "UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act) voters for the 2010 General Election."
In 2011, Mr. Yu filed a trademark for ABVote (Serial Number 85416420, Registration Number 4384577), which was registered in 2013.
In 2013, Jinhua Yulian Network ABVX voting system, which was being developed in partnership with Zhejiang University, was listed on the Jinhua Science and Technology Government Affairs website as an “industrial science and technology project.”
The listing said, “Please report to the Industrial and High-tech Division (Office 626) of Jinhua Science and Technology Bureau before July 4.”
Some of the other projects on the list include:
Development and industrialization of XY1000CUE-2 diesel large displacement four-wheel all-terrain vehicle
Research and development of low-cost, high-performance, super-wear-resistant polyamide fiber alloy general-purpose internal combustion engine camshaft assembly
Research and development of high-performance, energy-saving and environmentally friendly explosion-proof tires for motorcycle electric vehicles
Research on high-efficiency and energy-saving electrostatic precipitator technology and equipment
Research and development of ABVX, a complete network voting system for large-scale public elections
In 2014, the same website listed Jinhua Yulian Network as a provincial technology-based small and medium-sized enterprise.
The webpage says Zhejiang Science and Technology Department and the Municipal Science and Technology Bureau identified “111 enterprises are the second batch of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises in Zhejiang Province in 2014.”
In 2014, Jinhua City's Wucheng District posted a list of Science and Technology projects that featured Chen Wei and Jinhua Yulian Network working on the “Research and Development of Subsystem of Network Election Background Server.”
Some of the other project’s on the Wucheng government list include a “metal injection molding technology,” an “electric vehicle energy management system,” and
“centralized meter reading equipment for micro-power wireless communication.”
The Chinese Communist Party’s Organization Department
In 2007, JHTP awarded “30 outstanding overseas returnees” with the honorary title of "Excellent Returned Overseas Students in Zhejiang Province" and awarded each person ¥ 10,000 yuan. The post says:
“To accelerate the gathering of overseas high-level overseas talents, the Organization Department of the Provincial Party Committee, the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee, the United Front Work Department of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial Department of Personnel, the Provincial Department of Education, and the Provincial Department of Science and Technology decided to carry out commendation activities for outstanding returned overseas students in Zhejiang Province.”
In order to be selected, overseas returnees had to have “a master’s degree or above,” “work and serve Zhejiang (start a business) for more than 2 years,” “love the socialist motherland,” and “support the leadership of the Communist Party of China.”
In 2013, Eugene Yu wrote in Chinese on Jinhua Yulian Network’s “Solution” page that his goal was to “improve the local people's congresses at all levels” and that he is realizing these goals “under the leadership of the local party committee, led by the Party Affairs Department of the Organization Department.”
According to the United States Senate report entitled Threats to the U.S. Research Enterprise: China’s Talent Recruitment Plans, “the Organization Department is one of the most powerful Chinese Communist Party departments, controlling more than 90 million Party officials’ assignments at all levels of the Chinese government.”
“The CPC recognized the need to control overseas talent recruitment efforts to ensure they were in line with Party priorities, so it created a complex system of administration and oversight to coordinate its recruitment efforts. This coordination allows the CPC to “exert exceptional” levels of control over the Thousand Talents Plan and other talent recruitment plans.”
“The Organization Department oversees the Talent Work Coordination Small Group (“TWCSG”), the Overseas High-Level Talent Recruitment Working Small Group, and the Overseas High-Level Talent Recruitment Work Special Office (“Special Office”). The Organization Department’s director and deputy director chair the TWCSG, which is compromised of 18 government agencies.”
The TWCSG also develops strategic plans, conducts policy research, and coordinates 18 participating government agencies, CPC affiliated entities, and academic entities. These 18 entities and agencies include:
CPC Central Committee Organization Department
Chinese Academy of Sciences (“CAS”)
Chinese Academy of Engineering (“CAE”)
National Natural Science Foundation (“NSFC”)
China Association for Science and Technology (“CAST”)
Ministry of Education (“MOE”)
Ministry of Science and Technology (“MOST”)
Foreign Experts Bureau
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (“MIIT”)
National Development and Reform Commission
Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (“MHRSS”)
State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (“SASAC”)
People’s Bank of China
Ministry of Finance
United Work Front Department
Communist Youth League of China (“CYLC”)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
“The participating agencies and entities each fulfill an important role in the process for targeting, recruiting, financing, and absorption of TTP members’ scientific research and technology as well as identifying China’s scientific, technological, and industrial needs.”
In 2013, when Konnech CEO Eugene Yu wrote in Chinese on his website that Jinhua Yulian Network was being led by the “local party committee” and the “Organization Department,” his company had already been recruited by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Jinhua Science and Technology Park and financed by the Chinese Communist Party for the last seven years.