Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that two U.S. Navy sailors were arrested on charges related to allegedly providing sensitive information to China.
Although the cases are separate, both sailors face accusations of giving national defense information to Chinese intelligence officials in return for cash payments.
Breaking News: Two U.S. Navy sailors in Southern California were arrested and accused of providing military secrets and sensitive information to Chinese intelligence officers. https://t.co/C22s77OYju
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 3, 2023
It’s unclear if the two separate cases are part of a larger scheme and federal officials declined to say if the sailors knew of each other’s actions, the Associated Press reports.
The United States Department of Justice have recently apprehended two Navy sailors on severe national security charges for their involvement in transmitting classified military information to a Chinese official in exchange for cash payments.https://t.co/sJ9kYy6DXw
📷: (Photo… pic.twitter.com/rvTvsQJpsM
— One America News (@OANN) August 3, 2023
AP reports:
U.S. 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 pair of cases also comes on the heels of another insider-threat prosecution tied to the U.S. military, with the Justice Department in April arresting a Massachusetts Air National Guardsman on charges of leaking classified military documents about Russia’s war in Ukraine and other sensitive national security topics on Discord, a social media platform popular with people playing online games.
U.S. officials said the cases exemplify China’s brazenness in trying to obtain insight into U.S. 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 U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman of the Southern District of California. 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.”
ABC News has more:
Jinchao “Patrick” Wei, a 22-year-old petty officer 2nd class, was arrested Wednesday and charged with espionage — more specifically, conspiracy to and committing the communication of defense information to aid a foreign government.
According to officials, citing the indictment against him, Wei served as a machinist’s mate aboard the amphibious ship USS Essex, which is currently receiving maintenance at Naval Base San Diego.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, of Monterey Park, California, was also arrested Wednesday, by FBI and NCIS agents, and is charged with conspiracy and receipt of a bribe by a public official, officials said, according to Zhao’s indictment.
Zhao, 26, worked at the Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme and had an active U.S. security clearance who had access to classified information, officials said.
His indictment states he had access to material classified as secret, as did Wei, who was born in China and became a U.S. citizen in 2022 as he was allegedly also sending information to his handler.
“Through the alleged crimes committed by these defendants, sensitive military information ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China,” Matthew Olsen, the Justice Department’s assistant attorney general for national security, said at a press conference in San Diego.
CBS 8 San Diego aired the full press conference regarding the charges against the sailors:
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