government intelligence officers. miguel almaguer has more from naval base ventura county in california. reporter: this is the naval base where one of those accused spies was serving before he was arrested. he faces up to 20 years in prison. the second sailor faces up to life in prison. authorities say as of right now there is no clear indication they were working together. two american sailors charged with passing sensitive intelligence to china in exchange for money. the department of justice and fbi announcing their arrests. when a soldier or sailor chooses cash over country, and hands over national defense information in an ultimate act of betrayal, we have to be ready to act. reporter: a naturalized u.s. citizen was a sailor on the amphibious assault ship the uss essex. way sent national defense information to china, including
Two California-based Navy sailors have been arrested and charged for releasing sensitive U.S. military information to Chinese intelligence officers. Jinchao Wei: Jinchao Wei, a 22-year-old sailor assigned to the USS Essex, was arrested on Wednesday when he arrived for work at Naval Base San Diego. Wei had allegedly been in an arrangement with a Chinese intelligence officer since February 2022 in which he would send photos and videos of American aircrafts and warships, as well as technical manuals about the USS Essex’s weapons systems and power structure, in exchange for money.
sailors have each been arrested for selling military secrets to china. sensitive military information ended up in the hands of the peoples republic of china. reporter: the first defendant, 22-year-old jinchao wei faces espionage charges. national defense information was sent to china, including documents, photos, videos and technical manuals. in exchange, his intelligence officer paid wei thousands of dollars. reporter: authorities say wei, a machinist on the uss essex in san diego, sent the chinese officer photos of military hardware and vehicles and information about warfare exercises. in a separate case, wenheng zhao from ventura, california. federal authorities say zhao received $15,000 from a chinese intelligence officer in exchange for operational plans, navy movements and blueprints for a radar system at a military base
when a soldier or sailor chooses cash over country and hands over national defense information in an ultimate act of betrayal, we have to be ready to act. reporter: this 22-year-old, a naturalized u.s. citizens was a sailor on the amphibious assaultship the u.s.s. essex. he sent photos, documents. reporter: he has been charged under the espionage act, which carries a life sentence, his attorney entering a not guilty plea on his behalf-also arrested in a separate case of espionage, a 26-year-old petty officer working at a naval base in ventura county, california, pleading not guilty in federal court. officials say ch iou gave
station on the uss essex, which is a wasp class amphibious landing ship it is important for building up our determines deterrence. there is also looks at exercises coming up in the pacific region. so, they are absolutely trying to get more of this information and on the flipside, we have to do more to protect that information and, quite frankly, they are continuing a pattern where i am concerned that low- level folks in the military have access to too much classified or protected or sensitive information and that is a separate issue we have to tackle as well. on that note, congressman, do you think they are isolated cases? how expensive do you think china s reaches within the u.s.