Sigh, the burden of proof here does not have to be courtroom quality.
For example...
PIC16F84A - 8-bit PIC Microcontrollers
When the US discovered these switches in IEDs in Iraq, an investigation revealed that these small but powerful switches can be adapted for multiple uses to become the typical 'dual use' export license restricted. Overseas shell companies and countries that have highly relaxed shipping laws are conduits for the purchase and transport of these switches to Iraqi insurgents.
Why are these switches desirable ? No one else make electronic switches ? Are there some kind of global licensing and intellectual property lock down on the manufacture of similar electronic switches ?
The reason
THIS American designed and manufactured switch is desirable is because it is a proven product in terms of reliability and performance. The PIC16F84A model is used in common benign commercial products ranging from hobbyist toys to medical devices and finally all the way to home made bombs in Iraq. If a shipment of these switches -- say about 500 -- was found to have been shipped to Dubai and the tracking is lost in Dubai, the courtroom level burden of proof would not be met but there is no doubt in anyone's mind as to what would be the final destination and use of those switches.
Another seemingly benign item that can and have been used in non-commercial and non-civilian products is the 'lithotripter'...
Dornier MedTech - United States - Lithotripters
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is essentially a higher performance switch that can deliver thousands of amperes in time of nanoseconds. It is compact -- size of a standard grocery store grapefruit.
Civilian use -- Shattering kidney stones. Anyone who ever passed a kidney stone is grateful for this product.
Non-Civilian use -- A nuclear warhead trigger. Probably the only non-civilian use for a lithotripter. Pakistan's nuclear exporters sold nuclear warhead trigger designs to North Korea, Iraq, and Libya that specifically mentioned US-made lithotripter as the ideal configuration.
FRONTLINE/WORLD. Stories. Nuclear Underground. The Middleman. March 2005 | PBS
What China did to acquire US technologies to accelerate the Chinese military is no different. Shell companies, arms dealers who know how to maneuver bureaucracies of many countries, manufacturers willing to sell under the table, incompetent and/or apathetic law enforcement in any country, etc...etc...
The issue is not about the whole engine or flight control computer or even an instrument. It is about acquiring thru opaque and often illegal means of acquiring base components and/or technologies that contribute to the larger components and/or making an indigenous technology a little bit better. The burden of proof does not need to be courtroom presentable, just enough for a journalist to make connections in a report will suffice.
It is funny how you guys routinely make insinuations and allegations of NGO connections to the CIA but demands absolute proof that China commits intellectual and even physical thefts of Western technologies to improve the Chinese military.