The USS Essex, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship, arrives in Hong Kong harbour for a scheduled port go to, November 16, 2010. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo
WASHINGTON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over delicate nationwide safety materials to China, U.S. officers mentioned Thursday.
Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was charged with conspiracy and bribetaking in connection with taking practically $15,000 in change for pictures and movies of delicate U.S. navy info, the officers mentioned. U.S. Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, whose age was not disclosed, was charged with conspiring to ship nationwide protection info to China in change for hundreds of {dollars}.
Assistant Attorney General Matt Olsen advised reporters in San Diego that, as a result of of the boys’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 U.S. navy workouts within the Indo-Pacific area, electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system on a U.S. navy base in Okinawa, Japan and safety particulars for U.S. naval amenities in Ventura County and San Clemente Island exterior Los Angeles, in response to U.S. officers.
Wei is accused of disclosing details about the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship the place he served, in addition to different American warships, together with dozens of technical manuals laying out the Essex’s weapons, energy construction and operations.
Contact particulars for Wei and Zhao couldn’t instantly be positioned.
U.S. officers on the press convention condemned China’s espionage marketing campaign Thursday.
“There is no bigger, multigenerational threat to the United States” than China, mentioned FBI Special Agent Stacey Moy. Beijing
“will stop at nothing to attack the United States in its strategic plan to become the world’s sole superpower.”
The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn’t instantly return a message looking for remark on the allegations.
U.S.-China relations have been tense for years over a variety of nationwide safety and commerce points. The United States has accused China of espionage and cyberattacks, a cost that Beijing has rejected. China has additionally declared that it’s beneath menace from spies.
Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Raphael Satter in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter, Alison Williams, Jonathan Oatis and Cynthia Osterman
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
