The People's Republic of China (PRC) is alleged to undertake a widespread effort to acquire U.S. military technology and classified information[citation needed]. To fulfill its long-term military development goals, the PRC uses a variety of methods to obtain U.S. technology—including espionage, the exploitation of commercial entities, and a network of scientific, academic, and business contacts. The Chinese operate in ways that take advantage of U.S. laws to avoid prosecution. The PRC uses a vast network of agents and contacts to collect pieces of information that are collated and put together in the PRC. Often each individual piece is not enough to warrant any suspicion or prosecution from U.S. government personnel. The aggressiveness of Chinese penetration is well documented in multiple