Two US Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, US officials said yesterday.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was charged with conspiracy and bribe-taking in connection with taking nearly $15,000 in exchange for photographs and videos of sensitive US military information, the officials said. US Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, whose age was not disclosed, was charged with conspiring to send national defence information to China in exchange for thousands of dollars.
Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen said in San Diego that, because of the men’s actions, “sensitive military info ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China.”
Zhao is accused of sending his Chinese handler plans for US military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region, electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system on a US military base in Okinawa, Japan and security details for naval facilities in Ventura County and San Clemente Island outside Los Angeles, according to officials.
Wei is accused of disclosing information about the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship where he served, as well as other American warships, including dozens of technical manuals laying out the Essex’s weapons, power structure and operations.
Contact details for Wei and Zhao could not immediately be located.
&uuid=(email))