Two US navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, US officials said on Thursday.
Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested on Wednesday on a charge related to espionage involving conspiracy to sending national defense information to Chinese officials. In a separate case, the justice department charged Wenheng Zhao, 26, for allegedly collecting bribes in exchange for giving sensitive US military photos and videos to a Chinese intelligence officer.
“These individuals stand accused of violating the commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the PRC government,” said Matthew G Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the justice department’s national security division.
Because of their actions, “sensitive military info ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China”, Olsen said. The information included details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material, officials said.
Federal officials spoke about the cases on Thursday during a news conference in San Diego. The two sailors were charged with similar crimes, but they were charged in separate cases, and it was not clear on Thursday if the two were connected or if they were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer.
Federal prosecutors allege that Wei made contact with a Chinese government intelligence officer in February 2022, and at the officer’s request, provided photographs and videos of the ship he served on. The information he disclosed included technical and mechanical manuals as well as details about the number and training of marines during an upcoming exercise, the justice department said.
The justice department charged Wei under a rarely used Espionage Act statute that makes it a crime to gather or deliver information to aid a foreign government. Authorities arrested Wei on Wednesday as he arrived for work at the naval base in San Diego.
During the course of the relationship, the unnamed Chinese intelligence officer instructed Wei not to discuss their relationship, to share non-public information with the agent, and to destroy evidence to help them cover their tracks, officials said.
The justice department separately announced charges against Zhao, who is accused of working with a Chinese intelligence officer between August 2021 through at least May 2023. The information he is accused of sharing included operational plans for a US military exercise in the Indo-Pacific Region. Prosecutors say Zhao also surreptitiously recorded information that he handed over.
Zhao photographed electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system at a US military base in Okinawa, Japan, the indictment alleges. He allegedly received approximately $14,866 for the information he provided, according to the indictment.