Chinese-Born US Sailor Found Guilty of Spying in Espionage Case

On Wednesday, a Chinese-born U.S. Navy sailor was found guilty on charges of espionage and related offenses, having sold military secrets to a Chinese agent in exchange for $12,000.

Following a trial of five days, Jinchao Wei, aged 22, was convicted in San Diego by a federal jury on six counts, including conspiracy to commit espionage, espionage, and the illegal exportation, as well as conspiring to export technical data about defense articles. This was seen as a violation of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.

Wei was also found guilty on four counts of conspiracy to violate and actual violation of the Arms Export Control Act, a law that forbids the exportation of U.S. military equipment and technology, or what the government refers to as “defense articles”, without a license from the State Department. Wei’s sentencing is set to occur on December 1.

Adam Gordon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, said, “The defendant’s actions represent an egregious betrayal of the trust placed in him as a member of the U.S. military. By trading military secrets to the People’s Republic of China for cash, he jeopardized not only the lives of his fellow sailors but also the security of the entire nation and our allies.”

Both Wei and another sailor, Wenheng Zhao, were arrested on the same day in August 2023 and were charged with espionage for China. Reports indicate that Zhao, unlike Wei, is a naturalized U.S. citizen and confessed to accepting nearly $15,000 in bribes for transmitting sensitive but unclassified military information to a Chinese handler.

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The Department of Justice stated that Wei was first contacted through social media in February 2022 by an individual claiming to be a naval enthusiast but who was a Chinese intelligence officer. During this period, Wei was in the process of applying for naturalized U.S. citizenship, and he admitted to the officer that he was aware his actions could jeopardize his application.

Between February 2022 and August 2023, Wei sent extensive information about the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship on which he served as a machinist’s mate, to the officer. This included photographs and videos, as well as detailed information about other U.S. Navy ships that he had extracted from restricted computer systems.

During his closing argument, Wei’s defense attorney Sean Jones admitted his client had done things “very, very wrong”, but insisted that Wei never intended to harm the U.S. However, a special agent from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service testified that the leak of information about U.S. Navy ships, even basic information, could potentially compromise U.S. military advantage and expose vulnerabilities that adversaries could exploit.

This development follows earlier reports that two alleged Chinese spies in the U.S. were charged with photographing a naval base and attempting to recruit U.S. military members for Chinese intelligence work.