Two U.S. Navy Sailors Arrested on Espionage Charges Involving Alleged Ties to China
Two U.S. Navy sailors were arrested on national security-related charges related to allegedly sending sensitive military information to the Chinese Communist Party, federal officials said on Thursday.
“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 [People’s Republic of China] government,” Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division, said in a news release.
U.S. Navy Sailor Jinchao Wei, an active-duty machinist’s mate on the amphibious U.S.S. Essex assault ship stationed at Naval Base San Diego, was arrested on Wednesday for espionage-related charges upon arriving for work at the homeport of the Navy’s Pacific Fleet in California.
Wei, 22, was indicted for conspiracy to send national defense information to a Chinese intelligence officer who allegedly communicated with Wei using encrypted messages to provide photos, videos and documents about the U.S.S. Essex and other Navy ships as early as February 2022, according to U.S. officials. Wei allegedly disclosed the locations of various Navy ships, defensive weapons, technical and mechanical manuals to the intelligence officer in exchange for thousands of dollars over the course of the conspiracy. The sailor also allegedly passed along information about the number of U.S. Marines training during previously scheduled international maritime warfare exercises. (Read more from “Two U.S. Navy Sailors Arrested on Espionage Charges Involving Alleged Ties to China” HERE)
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