Two U.S. Navy sailors accused of passing secrets to China

Two U.S. Navy sailors based in California were arrested Wednesday in separate cases and accused of passing sensitive national defense information and military secrets to Chinese agents in exchange for money, the Justice Department announced Thursday. The charges come at a time when the United States and China are struggling to contain mutual suspicion and preserve long-standing economic ties.

The two sailors allegedly sent a blueprint for a radar system, technical manuals for vessels, operational plans for military exercises in the Indo-Pacific and details of defensive weapons to Chinese intelligence officers, the Justice Department said. Attorneys for the two sailors could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

“These arrests are a reminder of the relentless, aggressive efforts of the People’s Republic of China to undermine our democracy and threaten those who defend it,” Suzanne Turner, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement. “The PRC compromised enlisted personnel to secure sensitive military information that could seriously jeopardize U.S. national security.”

The Navy did not immediately return a request for comment and service records on both men. The arrests come months after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was detected flying over the United States, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a trip to Beijing in February. While Blinken eventually traveled to China in June, alleviating a diplomatic row between the two countries, tensions have persisted.

The alleged espionage also comes after a 21-year-old airman leaked hundreds of classified U.S. military documents on Discord, a chat platform popular with gamers, including assessments of the war in Ukraine and Beijing’s ability to deploy a high-altitude spy drone.

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