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2 U.S. sailors arrested on suspicion of espionage, selling information to China

File photo from Naval Base Ventura County Port Hueneme in California, where one of the arrested sailors was stationed.   (Stephen Osman/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
By Nathan Solis and Richard Winton Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Two U.S. sailors have been arrested and indicted on suspicion of accepting bribes in exchange for passing sensitive military information to intelligence officers from China, federal authorities announced Thursday.

The sailors were in direct contact with Chinese officers who paid the sailors thousands in bribes to provide national defense information, including technical manuals on assault ships, critical technology and radar systems, according to officials with the U.S. attorney’s offices in Los Angeles and San Diego.

Jinchao Wei, 22, and Wenheng Zhao, 26, are naturalized American citizens who were born in China and were communicating with intelligence officers in China, though it’s unclear if they were speaking to the same intelligence officer, prosecutor said.

Wei, who was stationed on a ship in San Diego, was arrested when he arrived for work at the Naval Base on Wednesday, authorities said. He is accused of transmitting information over encrypted channels to a Chinese official.

In a separate investigation, Zhao, who is also known as Thomas Zhao and was based out of Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, was also arrested on Wednesday and accused of similar charges.

Zhao is accused of recording and sharing the specific location and timing of naval force movements, amphibious landings, maritime operations and logistics support, beginning in August 2021 and continuing through May, prosecutors said.

Zhao is also suspected of taking photographs of radar systems in Okinawa, Japan, at the naval base in Ventura County and on San Clemente Island, officials said.

“By sending this sensitive military information to an intelligence officer employed by a hostile foreign state, the defendant betrayed his sacred oath to protect our country and uphold the Constitution,” U.S. Atty. Martin Estrada said in a statement. “Unlike the vast majority of U.S. Navy personnel who serve the nation with honor, distinction and courage, Mr. Zhao chose to corruptly sell out his colleagues and his country.”