The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has revealed news that a former US Navy soldier has now been convicted in a federal court after selling key military secrets to China in exchange for money.
The United States and China haven't exactly been on the best of terms in recent history yet tensions only appear to be increasing with every subsequent year, and some are even fearing that global warfare could be on the horizon with the threat of nuclear weapons.
Some have claimed that China is using complex technology to spy on the US – to the point where it has even supposedly installed a 'kill switch' into a key part of the electrical grid, allowing for a complete shutdown in the event of an attack.
Artificial intelligence is also playing a key role in tensions between the two nations as both see 'winning' the race as a key indicator of who will surge ahead and become the leading global power, yet when it comes to the military, China might just have got an unexpected upper hand.
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As reported by the Daily Mail, one now-former US Navy soldier has been apprehended and charged after officials discovered that he had been selling 'thousands' of pages of military secrets to a Chinese agent.
25-year-old Jinchao Wei reportedly exchanged specific technical secrets about an assault ship known as the USS Essex, alongside the location of several other naval vessels, and he did it for 'just' $12,000.
Wei has been given a sentence of 200 months in federal prison, which works out to over 16 and a half years in total.
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He was initially contacted by the Chinese agent in early 2022, where they claimed to be a fan of naval ships seeking information. Wei did eventually suspect that he was a spy eventually, but upon this realization he instead chose to switch to a more encrypted messaging app to hide his conversations.
During his court case, attorneys also revealed that Wei has encouraged by his mother to continue sharing information with the agent while at home in Wisconsin for Christmas, and the pair were even promised to fly over to China to meet their contact in person.
Extensive technical manuals alongside photos and videos of the USS Essex were shared with the Chinese agent directly from his work computers, alongside details of various weapons systems on board the ship.
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Speaking of Wei's actions, US attorney Adam Gordon illustrated that he "betrayed his oath, his shipmates, the United States Navy, and the American people, a level of disloyalty that strikes at the heart of our national security and demanded this powerful sentence."
John Eisenberg, Assisstant Attorney General for National Security, added that "Wei swore loyalty to the United States when he joined the Navy and reaffirmed that oath when he became a citizen.
"He made a mockery of these commitments when he chose to endanger our nation and our servicemembers by selling US military secrets to a Chinese intelligence officer for personal profit."