China targets US military members in overseas spy operations, former CIA station chief warns
Jian Zhao and Li Tian, both active-duty Army soldiers, were arrested in early March after allegedly selling "Top Secret" information to individuals based in China, according to the Department of Justice. Zhao and Tian were both indicted by federal grand juries in Washington and Oregon.
Federal prosecutors allege Tian sold sensitive military information to former soldier Ruoyu Duan, who would allegedly receive money from individuals residing in China. Tian then allegedly received tens of thousands of dollars for selling the sensitive information.
Included in the alleged documents Tian sold was a Google Drive link containing classified documents about the Stryker combat vehicle. Tian also allegedly sent additional sensitive data on U.S. weapons systems.
Prosecutors said the incidents highlight efforts by China to use "cut-outs," known as people trusted by Chinese intelligence services, to gather sensitive information that could help the Chinese government. Those "cut-outs" then recruit individuals with access to or knowledge of U.S. government information, which includes current and former government officials.
According to the court documents, security video showed Tian allegedly brought his personal cellphone into a classified area of Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington in May 2024, printed a classified document and left with it. He would allegedly return over three hours later with the document. Prosecutors also alleged that Tian took screenshots of sensitive information on several occasions.
In a connected case at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Zhao allegedly sold classified information to an unnamed co-conspirator. According to federal prosecutors, Zhao received at least $15,000 for the documents. Zhao allegedly sold 20 military hard drives to an individual in China, some containing a "Secret" label.
Zaho allegedly conspired to sell information related to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as well as information related to U.S. military readiness if there was a war with China.
"While bribery and corruption have thrived under China's Communist Party, this behavior cannot be tolerated with our service members who are entrusted with sensitive military information, including national defense information," said FBI Director Kash Patel on the charges.
Former CIA station chief Dan Hoffman told Fox News Digital he thinks U.S. military service members as well as government employees are being targeted to take part in these spy operations.
"I think anybody who serves in the U.S. government is in the crosshairs. And China will do it," Hoffman said. "Sometimes they'll run their recruitment operations posing as someone else. So maybe somebody doesn't want to go spy for China, but they might pretend to be somebody else. Or they might contact you on social media, on LinkedIn or some other site and pose as someone not so nefarious when in fact they are."
Hoffman said gaining intel from the U.S. military is one of the Chinese government's "highest requirements."
"They want to recruit U.S. military because there's a probability we might go to war with China, and not just U.S. military, but NATO members as well, and throughout Asia. So they've got a massive intelligence apparatus," he said.
China isn't just targeting the U.S. military. It's targeting many other aspects of American society as well, including academia.
Five former University of Michigan students were charged in October 2024 after they were allegedly caught spying on a National Guard training center for the Chinese government during a training session with the Taiwanese military.
The former University of Michigan students were confronted by a Utah National Guard sergeant major in August 2023 near a lake at Camp Grayling in Michigan.
Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on U.S. and China relations, told Fox News Digital the Chinese Communist Party "will exercise whatever tactics they feel they need to by hook or crook to get our military secrets," adding China is "shameless."
"This is a tactic that China is exercising in the new Cold War that we're locked in with the Chinese Communist Party. And one of the things that is really striking is the low price that a lot of Americans are willing to sell their patriotism for and their allegiance for. Some of these people didn't get that much money to sell some really sensitive military secrets over to the Chinese Communist Party," Sobolik said.
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