U.S. Navy Sailor Pleads Guilty To Selling Military Information To China

A Navy sailor has pleaded guilty to sending sensitive US military information to a Chinese intelligence officer, as announced by the Justice Department, as reported by Piper Hudspeth Blackburn for CNN.

Zhao purportedly shared information that included operational plans for a major military exercise in the Indo-Pacific with a Chinese intelligence officer posing as a maritime economic researcher between August 2021 and May 2023. I Photo: Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Lopez, U.S. Navy

Petty Officer Wenheng Zhao, aged 26 and from Monterey Park, California, admitted to conspiring with the Chinese officer and receiving a bribe.

Zhao was stationed at Naval Base Ventura County in Port Hueneme, California. Matthew Olsen, the assistant attorney general for national security, commented, "The intelligence services of the People's Republic of China actively target clearance holders across the military, seeking to entice them with money to provide sensitive government information."

Zhao's guilty plea follows his indictment and arrest several months ago, along with another sailor, for allegedly transmitting sensitive information to Chinese intelligence operatives.

According to the August indictment against Zhao, he purportedly shared information that included operational plans for a major military exercise in the Indo-Pacific with a Chinese intelligence officer posing as a maritime economic researcher between August 2021 and May 2023.

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