Two Navy servicemen were formally accused of transmitting sensitive military information to officers in China’s military on Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Thursday.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen said in a statement that the two men “stand accused of violating commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the People’s Republic of China.”
“The Department of Justice will continue to use every tool in our arsenal to counter threats from China and to deter those who aid them in breaking our laws and threatening our national security,” he said.
Jinchao Wei (Patrick Wei), one of the accused, was stationed at Naval Base San Diego and was arrested Wednesday when he arrived at work, per the release.
He was a machinist’s mate aboard the USS Essex and had access to ship mechanical manuals, which he allegedly sold to the Chinese military in exchange for thousands of dollars on various occasions starting in February 2022. Along with the manuals, he sent photos and videos of the ship’s weapons, propulsion and desalination systems, along with locations of various Navy ships, according to the release.
The indictment alleges that Wei was aware that he was violating the International Traffic Arms Regulations, which requires a license from the U.S. government in order to export this kind of data.
Wei is not expected to have coordinated or worked with Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao (Thomas Zhao), who was accused and taken into custody the same day.
Zhao, of Monterey Park, California, is accused of transmitting sensitive U.S. military information to a Chinese intelligence officer who was posing as a maritime economic researcher.
For almost two years, Zhao allegedly communicated and hid his correspondence with the supposed researcher, sending photographs and videos of nonpublic information, including diagrams of a U.S. radar system in Japan and locations and plans for a “large-scale U.S. military exercise in the Indo-Pacific Region.”
Zhao could serve a 20-year prison sentence.
“When a soldier or sailor chooses cash over country, and hands over national defense information in an ultimate act of betrayal, the United States will aggressively investigate and prosecute,” said U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman for the Southern District of California in a statement.