Amid growing international concerns over the Chinese Communist Party’s theft of foreign technology, a former Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy colonel recently gave an interview to the YouTube channel “The Lensman’s Diary,” revealing his experience of being ordered to smuggle a Russian-made K-28 anti-submarine helicopter and later being framed and sentenced to seven years in prison. He also exposed how the CCP uses national power to mimic Russian military equipment and how it turns “merits” into “misdeeds” in a brutal culture of internal strife.
Tan Chunsheng (online alias Yao Cheng), former staff officer of the Chinese PLA Navy Command, disclosed in a video interview hosted by internet celebrity Ba Jiong (Wen Ziyu) that in the early 1990s, due to the backward equipment of the PLA Navy and Air Force, the Chinese State Council allocated 1.5 billion yuan annually to support the Air Force and Navy alternately.
In 1993, Tan Chunsheng was transferred to the Chinese PLA Navy’s new equipment introduction office, designated as the “Office 933” (established in March 1993), responsible for purchasing the K-28 anti-submarine helicopters to equip the 956-class “Modern” missile destroyers from Russia. However, against the backdrop of tension in the Taiwan Strait, the Russian side took advantage and inflated the unit price from $6.5 million to $13.5 million, leading to the reduction of the planned purchase of 24 aircraft to only 8.
In the video released, Tan Chunsheng recalled that the State Council refused to increase the budget, stating that doing so would cause dissatisfaction among the military branches. The Central Military Commission ordered them to resolve the issue themselves, leading the Navy to decide to “copy” the helicopter model.
Tan Chunsheng collaborated with the Harbin Aircraft Company under the China Aviation Industry Group to go to Laos to secretly transport a K-28 back to China as a sample. “We just stole it. Chinese people steal things too much, not only me, many people in the Navy go out to steal things,” Tan admitted.
However, after the operation was discovered by the Russian intelligence agency KGB, it triggered a strong reaction from Moscow, threatening to suspend military cooperation and aircraft sales between the two sides.
To deflect responsibility, the Chinese Central Military Commission blamed the event on Tan Chunsheng personally, claiming that the senior military leadership was “completely unaware” and sentenced him to seven years on charges of “illegal activities.” Tan Chunsheng recalled, “In the Communist Party, when you think you have done a good deed, a first-class merit, it may turn into a fault.”
Chinese imitation of Russian weapons has a long history. According to a report in Asia Nikkei in December 2024, in the 1990s, China purchased Su-27 fighters and S-300 missile systems from Russia, leading to the development of the imitated J-11 fighter and HQ-9 surface-to-air missile.
This “reverse engineering” once shocked the Russian defense industry. Vadim Kozyulin, director of Asian security at the Russian International Affairs Policy Center, pointed out that Russia has taken several preventive measures, such as requiring China to make major purchases of Russian-made weapons and including clauses in contracts to prevent technology theft, even demanding royalties from copying Russian weapons.
However, Kozyulin admitted that these measures have had limited effectiveness. “We have tried various ways to address this issue, but the results have been minimal.”
Yevgeny Livadny, head of intellectual property at the Russian state military-industrial giant Rostec, acknowledged in December 2024 that there have been over 500 cases of unauthorized copying in the past 17 years, with China accounting for the majority. This includes copying of Russian aviation engines, Sukhoi aircraft, shipborne aircraft, air defense systems, shoulder-fired missiles, and similar systems like the Pantsir medium-range air defense system.
During the interview, Tan Chunsheng revealed that it was not until 2003, when a Chinese naval warship sank, that the then Navy Commander Shi Yunseng and Political Commissar Yang Huaiqing were purged, exacerbating the struggle within the military and between the former CCP leader Jiang Zemin.
Tan pointed out that Shi Yunseng once felt aggrieved for him and after retirement even went to the Central Military Commission to request access to documents, questioning the “prejudging without trial” against Tan.
“The documents revealed that Jiang Zemin directly signed and named me, accusing me of illegal activities, and my case was convicted without going to court,” Tan Chunsheng criticized it as a political persecution. “He made merits but became a sacrifice.”
In February 2016, Tan Chunsheng escaped from China and went to the United States. He candidly stated that within the CCP system, “achievements turn into faults,” and there is no protection for human rights. “Look, whoever wants to kill you can kill you. I am considered lucky, at least I was able to run away.”
When interviewed, Tan Chunsheng revealed that after Shi Yunseng retired, he encouraged him to sue Jiang Zemin, but he refused, saying, “I don’t want to court death,” and ultimately chose to go to the international community to reveal the truth. “There is always a place where I can make my case,” he said firmly.
According to Nikkei, Russia’s concerns about Chinese imitation once led to a sharp decline in bilateral arms trade in the mid-2000s. In 2005, China accounted for 60% of Russian arms exports, but by 2012, it had dropped to only 8.7%.
It was not until the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2014 and the rupture of Russia’s relations with the West that Moscow began actively wooing Beijing, leading to a resurgence in bilateral military cooperation and arms sales.
Despite Russia’s dissatisfaction with Chinese imitation technology, geopolitical and economic realities make it difficult for Russia to respond forcefully.