The Guardian-US navy sailor pleads guilty to accepting 15000 in bribes from China
October 11, 2023 2 min 319 words
这篇报道揭示了一起严重的国家安全事件，美国海军水手Wenheng "Thomas" Zhao承认接受来自中国情报官员约15000美元的贿赂，以交换未分类的美国军事信息照片。这种背叛行为对美国国家安全构成了威胁。不仅如此，他还向中国情报官员发送了关于印度-太平洋地区军事演习、行动命令以及冲绳岛上美国军事基地雷达系统的电路图等敏感信息。这种行为背叛了国家，危害了美国军队和国家安全。 这不是个别事件，8月份还有另一名海军水手Jinchao Wei因类似的指控被捕。这两起事件都凸显了中国针对美国的广泛间谍活动，美国指控中国进行了大规模的间谍和网络攻击，而中国则予以否认。这是一次严重的国际争端，需要谨慎处理。 这两名被告违背了对保护美国的承诺，背叛了公众的信任，将敏感军事信息交到了中国政府手中。这不仅对美国的国家安全构成威胁，还对美国与中国之间的关系带来了紧张局势。必须确保这些行为的调查和审判得以妥善处理，以保护国家的利益和安全。
A US navy sailor pleaded guilty on Tuesday to accepting nearly $15,000 in bribes from a Chinese intelligence officer in exchange for photographs of unclassified private US military information, according to court papers.
Petty Officer Wenheng “Thomas” Zhao, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and receiving a bribe, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court in Los Angeles.
Zhao admitted sending his Chinese handler plans for US military exercises in the Indo-Pacific region, operational orders and electrical diagrams and blueprints for a radar system on a US military base in Okinawa, Japan, according to court documents and US officials. He was arrested in August.
Another navy sailor, Jinchao Wei, was also arrested in August on similar charges in a separate case. Wei, 22, who was assigned to the San Diego-based USS Essex, was arrested on a charge related to espionage involving a conspiracy to send national defense information to Chinese officials.
Zhao, who worked at Naval Base Ventura county in California, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison on the charges, but a judge will determine his final sentence.
A lawyer representing Zhao did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US attorney Martin Estrada of the central district of California said Zhao had “betrayed his country and the men and women of the US navy by accepting bribes from a foreign adversary”.
The US has accused China of an extensive campaign of espionage and cyber-attacks, a charge that Beijing has rejected.
Speaking of both arrests in August, Matthew G Olsen, the assistant attorney general of the justice department’s national security division, said: “These individuals stand accused of violating the commitments they made to protect the United States and betraying the public trust, to the benefit of the [Chinese] government.”
Because of their actions, “sensitive military info ended up in the hands of the People’s Republic of China”, Olsen said.