Two US Navy sailors have been arrested and accused of providing sensitive military information to China - including details on wartime exercises, naval operations and critical technical material, federal officials said Thursday. The two sailors, both based in California, were charged with similar moves to provide sensitive intelligence to the Chinese. But they were separate cases, and it was not clear if the two were courted or paid by the same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme. Federal officials at a news conference in San Diego declined to specify whether the sailors were aware of each other’s actions.
#USNavySailorArrested #USNavy #JinchaoWei
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#USNavySailorArrested #USNavy #JinchaoWei
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Today we are announcing charges in the Central and Southern Districts of California against
00:06 two active duty members of the United States Navy.
00:11 Through the alleged crimes committed by these defendants, sensitive military information
00:17 ended up in the hands of the People's Republic of China.
00:20 Two US Navy sailors have been arrested and accused of providing sensitive military information
00:25 to China, including details on wartime exercises, naval operations, and critical technical material.
00:32 The two sailors, both based in California, were charged with similar moves to provide
00:36 sensitive intelligence to the Chinese.
00:39 But they were separate cases, and it was not clear if the two were quoted or paid by the
00:43 same Chinese intelligence officer as part of a larger scheme.
00:47 Federal officials at a news conference in San Diego declined to specify whether the
00:51 sailors were aware of each other's actions.
00:54 Jinzhao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested
01:00 on Wednesday on a charge related to espionage involving conspiracy to send national defense
01:06 information to Chinese officials.
01:07 Wei, who was born in China, was approached by a Chinese intelligence officer while he
01:12 was applying to become a naturalized US citizen, prosecutors said, and admitted to the officer
01:17 that he knew the arrangement could affect his application.
01:21 The Justice Department also charged sailor Wen-Heng Zhao, based at Naval Base Ventura
01:25 County north of San Diego, with conspiring to collect bribes from a Chinese intelligence
01:30 officer in exchange for US naval exercise plans, operational orders, and photos and
01:35 videos of electrical systems at Navy facilities.
01:38 The information included operational plans for a US military exercise in the Indo-Pacific
01:43 region.
01:44 Prosecutors say that Zhao also surreptitiously recorded information that he handed over.
01:49 The pair of cases also come on the heels of another insider threat prosecution tied to
01:54 the US military with the Justice Department in April arresting a Massachusetts Air National
01:59 Guardsman on charges of leaking classified military documents about Russia's war in Ukraine
02:04 and other sensitive national security topics on Discord, a social media platform popular
02:09 with people playing online games.
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