Chinese Bribery of U.S. Sailors Suggests Communist Infiltration of Our Military Is a Priority for Beijing

It’s not just spy balloons anymore. Communist China appears to have other tricks up its sleeves in its ongoing efforts to undermine America — such as bribing active service members.Two U.S. Navy sailors were charged Thursday with providing sensitive military information to China — including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material.The two sailors, both based in California, were charged with similar moves to provide sensitive intelligence to the Chinese. Yet they were separate cases, and it wasn’t clear if the two were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme. Federal officials at a news conference at San Diego declined to specify whether the sailors were aware of each other’s actions.Both men pleaded not guilty in federal courts at San Diego and Los Angeles. They were ordered to be held until their detention hearings, which will take place August 8 in those cities.American officials have for years expressed concern about the espionage threat they say the Chinese government poses, bringing criminal cases in recent years against Beijing intelligence operatives who have stolen sensitive government and commercial information, including through illegal hacking.The cases exemplify Beijing’s brazenness in trying to obtain insight into American military operations.“Through the alleged crimes committed by these defendants, sensitive military information ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China,” said the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, Randy Grossman. He added that the charges demonstrate the Chinese government’s “determination to obtain information that is critical to our national defense by any means, so it could be used to their advantage.”A 22-year-old sailor, Jinchao Wei, who was assigned to the San Diego-based United States Ship Essex, was arrested Wednesday while boarding the ship. He is accused of passing detailed information on the weapons systems and aircraft aboard the Essex and other amphibious assault ships that act as small aircraft carriers.Prosecutors said Mr. Wei, who was born in China, was approached by a Chinese intelligence officer in February 2022 while he was applying to become a naturalized U.S. citizen, and admitted to the officer that he knew the arrangement could affect his application. Even so, at the officer’s request, Mr. Wei provided photographs and videos of Navy ships, including the Essex, which can carry an array of helicopters, including the MV-22 Ospreys, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.The indictment alleges Mr. Wei included as many as 50 manuals containing technical and mechanical data about Navy ships as well as details about the number and training of Marines during an upcoming exercise.Mr. Wei continued to send sensitive military information multiple times over the course of a year and even was congratulated by the Chinese officer once he became an American citizen, Mr. Grossman said. He added that Mr. Wei “chose to turn his back on his newly adopted country” for greed.The Justice Department charged Mr. Wei under a rarely-used Espionage Act statute that makes it a crime to gather or deliver information to aid a foreign government.After pleading not guilty at San Diego, Mr. Wei was assigned a new public defender who declined to comment following the hearing. He did not visibly react when read the charges.An assistant U.S. Attorney, Fred Sheppard, told the judge that Mr. Wei had passed information to Chinese intelligence as recently as two days ago. He said Mr. Wei, who also went by the name Patrick Wei, told a fellow sailor in February 2022 that he was “being recruited for what quite obviously is (expletive) espionage.”Mr. Sheppard said Mr. Wei has made $10,000 to $15,000 in the past year from the arrangement with the unnamed Chinese intelligence officer. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.The officer instructed Mr. Wei not to discuss their relationship, to share sensitive information and to destroy evidence to help them cover their tracks, officials said.The Justice Department also charged sailor Wenheng Zhao, 26, based at Naval Base Ventura County, north of San Diego, with conspiring to collect nearly $15,000 in bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for U.S. naval exercise plans, operational orders and photos and videos of electrical systems at Navy facilities between August 2021 through at least this May.The information included operational plans for a large-scale American military exercise in the Indo-Pacific region, which detailed the location and timing of naval force movements.The indictment further alleges that Mr. Zhao photographed electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan.Prosecutors say Mr. Zhao, who also went by the name Thomas Zhao, also surreptitiously recorded information that he handed over. If convicted, Mr. Zhao could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.It was unclear if federal officials were looking at other American sailors and if the investigation was ongoing.Mr. Grossman said the charges reflect that China “stands apart in terms of the threat that its government poses to the United States. China is unrivaled in its audacity and the range of its maligned efforts to subvert our laws.”He added that the United States will use “every tool in our arsenal to counter the threat and to deter China and those who have violated the rule of law and threaten our national security.”

Chinese Bribery of U.S. Sailors Suggests Communist Infiltration of Our Military Is a Priority for Beijing

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