Source link : https://sandiego365.info/2026/01/14/u-s-navy-sailor-admits-to-spying-for-china-following-friends-approach/
When U.S. Navy sailor Wenheng Zhao confided to a friend that Chinese officials were pressuring him to provide military secrets, it might have sounded like the plot of a Cold War thriller. Instead, it became the foundation of a real-life espionage case that prosecutors say exposed some of the Navy’s most sensitive operations. According to federal authorities, Zhao did more than merely describe Beijing’s overtures-he allegedly accepted thousands of dollars to funnel detailed information about U.S. warships and military exercises to a foreign intelligence officer. As court records and interviews reveal, the path from initial contact to active spying was marked by financial strain, encrypted messages and a growing trove of classified material, raising urgent questions about national security, insider threats and the reach of Chinese intelligence efforts inside the American armed forces.
How a casual confession exposed the quiet reach of Chinese espionage into the US Navy
It began as an offhand remark between friends – a sailor mentioning that Chinese contacts had approached him, probing for access to classified systems and routines. That casual admission, initially brushed aside as bravado or poor judgment, would later emerge as a key window into how foreign intelligence services quietly test the seams of U.S. military readiness. Investigators say these encounters are rarely dramatic; instead, they unfold through incremental requests for information, couched as…
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Author : Samuel Brown
Publish date : 2026-01-14 18:17:00
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