Former US Navy Sailor Sentenced for Selling Ship Information to China

Illustration. (Pexels/Ekaterina Bolovtsova)

JAKARTA - A former United States Navy sailor convicted of selling technical and operational manuals for ships and operating systems to an intelligence officer working for China was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison earlier this week, prosecutors said.

A federal judge in San Diego sentenced Jinchao Wei (25) to 200 months. A federal jury convicted Wei in August of six crimes, including espionage. He was paid more than 12,000 US dollars for the information he sold, the US Department of Justice said in a statement, launching Al Arabiya from The Associated Press (14/1).

Wei, an engineer for the USS Essex amphibious assault ship, was one of two California-based sailors charged on Aug. 3, 2023, for providing sensitive military information to China.

Another sailor, Wenheng Zhao, was sentenced to more than two years in 2024 after he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and one count of accepting bribes in violation of his official duties.

Wei was recruited via social media in 2022 by an intelligence officer who described himself as a navy fan working for the state-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, prosecutors said.

Evidence presented at the trial showed Wei told a friend the person was "very suspicious" and that it was "very clear" espionage. Wei ignored his friend's advice to delete the contact and instead moved the conversation with the intelligence officer to another encrypted messaging app that Wei thought was more secure, prosecutors said.

For 18 months, Wei sent the officer photos and videos of the Essex, told him the location of various Navy ships and gave him information about the Essex's defensive weapons, prosecutors said.

Wei, who holds the rank of second lieutenant, sold 60 technical and operational manuals to intelligence officers, including manuals for weapons control, aircraft and deck lifts.

In a letter to the judge before being sentenced, Wei apologized, saying he should not have shared anything with the person he considered a friend. Wei said that "introversion and loneliness" had clouded his judgment.

The guidebook contains export control warnings and details the operation of various systems on the Essex and similar ships.

US officials have for years expressed concern about the espionage threat they say is posed by the Chinese government, and in recent years have brought criminal cases against Beijing intelligence agents who have stolen sensitive government and commercial information, including through illegal hacking.

The Navy website states that Essex is equipped to transport and support Marine Corps landing forces of more than 2,000 soldiers during air and amphibious assaults.