The growing infiltration of U.S. military ranks by China’s intelligence networks reveal the troubling recruitment of first-generation Chinese Americans.

By Sam Cooper | The Bureau

Summary

Federal prosecutors have unsealed indictments against three U.S. soldiers—two active-duty and one former—for allegedly selling highly classified military secrets to buyers in China.

Jian Zhao, a supply sergeant in Washington state, led an espionage scheme involving the sale of top-secret U.S. military intelligence to individuals in China, including information on U.S. military readiness to fight a war against China. Zhao is charged with conspiracy to obtain and transmit national defense information, bribery, and theft of government property. He allegedly sold data on High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and detailed documents concerning U.S. military readiness and exercises, using encrypted online messaging and WeChat to manage his contacts and transactions.

Parallel indictments from Oregon and Washington charged Li Tian, an active-duty soldier, and Ruoyu Duan, a former soldier, for conspiring to commit bribery and theft of government property. Tian secretly gathered information related to Army operations, including technical manuals and sensitive material about the missions and capabilities of Bradley and Stryker armored fighting vehicles, and shared them with Duan in exchange for money. They communicated via Facebook Messenger and personal emails, using coded language to disguise their activities.

The cases underscore a troubling pattern of China’s efforts to infiltrate U.S. military ranks, exploiting financial vulnerabilities and nationalist sentiment to target service members. Similar recent Navy indictments have also highlighted China’s use of digital networks and economic pressures to compromise national security.

The original report is available at the publisher’s website here.