Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested Wednesday while boarding the ship.

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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.” “Through the alleged crimes committed by these defendants, sensitive military information ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China,” said Matt Olsen, the assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice. officials said the cases exemplify China’s brazenness in trying to obtain insight into 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. The pair of cases also comes on the heels of another insider-threat prosecution tied to the 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. They were ordered to be held until their detention hearings, which will take place Aug.

Federal officials at a news conference in San Diego declined to specify whether there is any tie between the cases.īoth men pleaded not guilty in federal courts in San Diego and Los Angeles. But they were separate cases, and it wasn’t clear if the two were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme. The two sailors, both based in California, were charged with similar moves to provide sensitive intelligence to the Chinese.

Navy sailors were charged Thursday with providing sensitive military information to China - including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material.

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