Jinchao Wei one of the two navy sailors was arrested for passing the information to China. Wei who was assigned to San Diego-based USS, was captured by US officials on Wednesday.
2 U.S. Navy sailors based in California were arrested (Photo : iStock)
According to U.S. officials, Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old seaman assigned to the USS Essex in San Diego and Thomas Zhao, also known as Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, is 26 years old, the two navy sailors, was detained on Wednesday on suspicion of conspiring to provide sensitive national defense information to Chinese authorities in exchange for money.
READ ALSO: Â 5 Best US Beaches To Add To Your Bucket ListÂ
According to the indictment, the Chinese agent paid Zhao over $15,000 for the information while making sure he erased any proof from the two navy sailors.
Requests for comments and the service histories of the two navy sailors were not immediately responded to by the Navy.
A suspected Chinese surveillance balloon was spotted flying above the United States months before the arrests, which forced Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a trip to Beijing that was scheduled for February.
The diplomatic dispute between the two countries was eventually resolved by Blinken’s visit to China in June, but tensions still exist.
READ ALSO: USA’s Best Places To Spend Vacation in 2023!
The Justice Department claimed that the two navy sailors supplied Chinese intelligence agents information on defensive weapons, operational plans for military drills in the Indo-Pacific, technical manuals for ships, and a radar system layout. On Thursday afternoon, it was impossible to immediately reach the two navy sailors’ lawyers for comment.
Federal prosecutors claim in an indictment unsealed on Thursday that the two navy sailors communicated with a Chinese government intelligence officer in February 2022 and, upon the officer’s request, gave pictures and recordings of the ship he was assigned to.
He revealed documents such as technical and mechanical instructions.
