US officer 'selling sensitive information' to China sentenced to prison

In the documents released on January 8, the officer was identified as Wenheng Zhao, 26, a naturalized US citizen born in China. In August 2023, he and another American sailor, Jinchao Wei, were arrested on charges of spying for Beijing.

According to The New York Post , the US Justice Department initially recommended a 37-month prison sentence because it believed Zhao had obstructed the government's investigation.

Officer Wenheng Zhao

Zhao pleaded guilty in federal court in California in October 2023 to charges of conspiring with a foreign intelligence officer and accepting bribes.

US officials said Zhao, stationed at a naval base north of Los Angeles, California, received nearly $15,000 from Chinese intelligence officers between August 2021 and May 2023.

In return, Zhao transferred sensitive information about US Navy security operations, exercises, and critical infrastructure.

Zhao specifically provided information about a large-scale maritime exercise in the Pacific Ocean , as well as schematics and electrical blueprints of a radar system based on the Japanese island of Okinawa. Zhao's lawyer, Tarek Shawky, asked the judge to sentence his client to 12 months in prison.

Meanwhile, Wei, who worked on the amphibious assault ship USS Essex, is accused of giving China dozens of documents, photos and videos detailing the ship's operations and crew.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington said on January 8 that it did not know the details of Zhao’s US conviction. Instead, it accused “the US government and media” of “hyping up ‘spying’ allegations involving China in recent years, many of which were later proven to be baseless.”

"China firmly opposes the US side's groundless slander and smear of China," the embassy said in an emailed response to the South China Morning Post.

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