Contact details for Wei and Zhao could not immediately be located
\nWASHINGTON
\nTwo U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, U.S. officials said Thursday.
\nPetty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was charged with conspiracy and bribetaking in connection with taking nearly $15,000 in exchange for photographs and videos of sensitive U.S. military information, the officials said. U.S. Navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, whose age was not disclosed, was charged with conspiring to send national defense information to China in exchange for thousands of dollars.
\nAssistant Attorney General Matt Olsen told reporters in San Diego that, because of the men\u2019s actions, \u201csensitive military info ended up in the hands of the People\u2019s Republic of China.\u201d
\nZhao is accused of sending his Chinese handler plans for U.S. military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region, electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system on a U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japan and security details for U.S. naval facilities in Ventura County and San Clemente Island outside Los Angeles, according to U.S. officials.
\nWei 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\u2019s weapons, power structure and operations.
\nContact details for Wei and Zhao could not immediately be located.
\nU.S. officials at the press conference condemned China\u2019s espionage campaign Thursday.
\n\u201cThere is no bigger, multigenerational threat to the United States\u201d than China, said FBI Special Agent Stacey Moy. Beijing\u201dwill stop at nothing to attack the United States in its strategic plan to become the world\u2019s sole superpower.\u201d
\nThe Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment on the allegations.
\nU.S.-China relations have been tense for years over a range of national security and trade issues. The United States has accused China of espionage and cyberattacks, a charge that Beijing has rejected. China has also declared that it is under threat from spies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Contact details for Wei and Zhao could not immediately be located WASHINGTON Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of handing over sensitive national security material to China, U.S. officials said Thursday. Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, 26, was charged with conspiracy and bribetaking in connection with taking nearly $15,000 in exchange for photographs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":347231,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-347219","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n