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According to an assistant US attorney, the US Navy sailor accused of divulging information to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was inspired by his mother. While serving in the US Navy, Jinchao Wei, 22, is accused of giving the Chinese government access to classified military intelligence.
According to Assistant US Attorney Fred Sheppard, Wei’s mother encouraged him because she thought it may help him get a job in the Chinese government despite being aware of his espionage for the CCP.
Wei, a Chinese citizen by birth, was supposedly approached by the CCP in February 2022 as he was submitting an application for naturalization.
He is suspected of giving a Chinese intelligence official access to images and recordings of the USS Essex, revealing the whereabouts of Navy vessels, and describing the Essex’s defensive armaments in exchange for thousands of dollars.
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US Navy Personnel Arrested in Chinese Spy Operation
The US government is accusing the former sailor of violating the Espionage Act. Wei entered a not-guilty plea. Authorities also detained another alleged Chinese spy in the US military at the same time as Wei.
It is unclear whether the two were acquainted or closely connected to one another. Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, also known as Thomas Zhao, a 26-year-old Californian from Monterey Park, is the second sailor accused of conspiring to bribe a Chinese official and receiving a bribe. Zhao had a US security clearance and worked at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme.
Zhao is charged with secretly filming and transferring US military data, images, and videos to a Chinese intelligence agent posing as a maritime economic researcher in exchange for kickbacks.
Materials exchanged with the Chinese intel officer included electrical diagrams and drawings for a radar system installed on a US military facility in Okinawa, Japan. And so, as it has in the examples that were highlighted, if those regulations are broken, the proper action will be taken.
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Source: www.foxnews.com
