According to the Department of Justice, two active US Navy personnel have been detained on suspicion of espionage for China.
The men are accused of selling Beijing classified documents, including designs for a radar system, instructions for a large US military exercise, and manuals for warships and their armament systems.
“These arrests are a reminder of the People’s Republic of China’s relentless, aggressive efforts to undermine our democracy and threaten those who defend it,” said Suzanne Turner of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, which was engaged in the operation.
In order to gain vital military secrets that may potentially threaten US national security, China “compromised enlisted personnel.”
The Department of Justice said in a news statement that sailor Jinchao Wei, who worked aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Essex in San Diego, had turned over hundreds of papers, pictures, and videos describing how ships and their systems functioned.
These contained instruction books on mechanics and technology pertaining to his own vessel’s armament.
The 22-year-old, who is said to have received thousands of dollars in exchange for the information, might spend the rest of his life in prison if found guilty.
The Department of Justice said that Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, had spied for China from his perch at the Naval Base Ventura County, north of Los Angeles, for over two years in a separate case.
Zhao is said to have received roughly $15,000 from a Chinese intelligence operative in exchange for knowledge on a significant US military exercise in the Indo-Pacific, including information regarding the time and location of amphibious landings.
Additionally, it is claimed that he gave out electrical schematics and radar system plans from a US military installation in southern Japan, where the US has a sizable military presence.
“The defendant betrayed his sacred oath to protect our country,” US Attorney Martin Estrada said. “By sending this sensitive military information to an intelligence officer employed by a hostile foreign state,” Estrada said.
“Mr. Zhao chose to corruptly sell out his colleagues and his nation, in contrast to the vast majority of US Navy personnel who serve the nation with honor, distinction, and courage.”
Zhao may spend up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.