Two active-duty U.S. sailors in California were arrested after transmitting sensitive military information to China, the Justice Department announced Thursday, saying that the two men sent photos and videos of American warships, operational plans for U.S. military drills in the Pacific, and a host of other secrets to Chinese handlers “that could seriously jeopardize U.S. national security.”
In an indictment unsealed Thursday morning, federal prosecutors identified the two sailors, Jinchao Wei and Wenheng Zhao, who worked at Naval Base San Diego and Naval Base Ventura County, respectively. Mr. Wei, 22, was arrested on espionage charges and was indicted for conspiracy to send national defense information to an intelligence officer working for China, prosecutors said.
Mr. Wei was reportedly born in China and was initially approached by a Chinese intelligence officer while he was applying to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. Prosecutors said the Chinese handler even congratulated Mr. Wei when he became an American citizen.
Mr. Wei “chose to turn his back on his newly adopted country,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman of the Southern District of California said Thursday.
Mr. Zhao was charged with receiving bribes in exchange for transmitting U.S. secrets to an intelligence officer of the People’s Republic of China who was posing as an economic researcher, the Justice Department said.
It’s not clear whether the two sailors were working together. The two indictments were announced as part of the same press release Thursday, but prosecutors did not say whether they were aware of each other’s actions.
Either way, the arrests represent a stunning and apparently highly successful Chinese effort to infiltrate the U.S. military and gain access to a host of sensitive information. Federal officials said the potential repercussions of the alleged actions are serious.
“These arrests are a reminder of the relentless, aggressive efforts of the People’s Republic of China to undermine our democracy and threaten those who defend it,” Suzanne Turner, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement Thursday. “The PRC compromised enlisted personnel to secure sensitive military information that could seriously jeopardize U.S. national security.”
According to prosecutors, Mr. Wei was stationed aboard the USS Essex at Naval Base San Diego and held a security clearance. In February 2022, the Justice Department said, Mr. Wei began communicating with a Chinese intelligence officer who asked for information about the Essex and other U.S. warships.
From March 2022 until recently, Mr. Wei sent pictures and videos of the Essex to the Chinese officer, along with the locations of other Navy ships and the specific weapons systems on those vessels, prosecutors said. Mr. Wei was paid “thousands of dollars” for the information, the government said.
Mr. Wei also shared technical and mechanical manuals of U.S. ships and even details about a Marine Corps international maritime warfare training exercise, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Mr. Zhao, 26, began sharing information with a Chinese intelligence officer in August 2021, with the arrangement lasting through at least May 2023. Over that nearly two-year period, the government said, Mr. Zhao sent the Chinese officer — who told Mr. Zhao that he was a maritime economic researcher — controlled operational plans for U.S. military exercises in the Pacific. Mr. Zhao also sent electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system stationed on a U.S. military facility in Okinawa, Japan, the government said, along with other documents.
Mr. Zhao was paid nearly $15,000 for the information, prosecutors said. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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