Media: U.S. Department of Justice announces a U.S. Navy personnel "acting as a Chinese spy" convicted

Axios, an American news website, reported on August 21: The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a U.S. Navy sailor was found guilty of espionage and five other charges related to selling military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer who recruited him through social media during his active service.

The report said, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, the jury accepted the prosecutors' charges that 25-year-old Jinchao Wei (Jinchao Wei, transliterated) was paid $12,000 over 18 months for selling "Navy secrets" while serving as a mechanical petty officer on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex at the San Diego Naval Base in California.

The report stated that the 25-year-old man was also convicted of other offenses, including conspiracy to commit espionage, illegal export, and conspiracy to export technical data related to defense articles. During a five-day trial, the jury learned that Wei had a U.S. security clearance, allowing him to access sensitive defense information about the ship's weapons, propulsion, and desalination systems.

The report said that prosecutors accused him of sending photos and videos of the USS Essex to the intelligence officer, reporting the positions of multiple naval vessels, and describing the defensive weapons of the USS Essex, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. It was stated that Wei referred to his contact as "Big Brother Andy" and promised to keep it secret.

The report said that according to the evidence, this San Diego resident used encrypted applications and other methods, and used a new computer and phone provided by his contact.

The report said that the intelligence officer who recruited Wei in February 2022 initially described himself as a naval enthusiast, claiming to work for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. The U.S. Department of Justice stated, "Evidence showed that even at the beginning of Wei's espionage career, he had serious doubts about the true identity and motives of this intelligence officer."

The report said that according to the Department of Justice, this China-born naturalized U.S. citizen told a Navy friend that he thought he was "on the radar of a China intelligence organization" after the officer offered to pay him $500 and said he was "no idiot" and that "this is quite obviously f**king espionage," according to the DOJ.

The report said that U.S. prosecutor Adam Gordon stated in a statement: "The defendant's actions were a serious betrayal of the trust placed in him as a U.S. serviceman," "he sold military secrets to China for money, not only putting his comrades in life-threatening situations but also endangering the safety of the entire country and our allies."

The report said that another sailor arrested on the same day as Wei was sentenced to 27 months in prison in January this year after pleading guilty to conspiring with a Chinese intelligence officer and accepting bribes. In addition, Wei is scheduled to be sentenced on December 1 this year, and he had previously been found not guilty of a charge of citizenship fraud.

The original title of the report is "U.S. Navy sailor convicted of spying for China in exchange for $12,000" (A U.S. Navy sailor was convicted of acting as a Chinese spy in exchange for $12,000).

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841050058887259/

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